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THE MOST VALUABLE DISCOVERY OE THE AGE. 



THE 



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©ebelciptng, Curing, antr ^remlnng 



WOOD AND LUMBER 



VULCANIZING 



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bW\\\ e o a o\ svV e s n< \a\ 



Wood and Lumber rendered Tougher, Stronger and more Beautiful ; thoroughly Cured 



and Prepared for use ; and also Preserved from Decay in from three to six hours. 
No Sap is driven out; no Foreign substance is introduced; the Natural ele- 
ments of the Wood are Eetained and Utilized. The Process Simple, and 
Inexpensive, requiring no Skilled labor, no Complicated Machinery. 





1 
iJ.kt.kU. 



ALBANY 

MUNSELL PRINTING nol'si 

1882, 



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T"A424- 



Copyrighted 1SS.2 by the 
U. S. Vulcanizing- Wood and I/oeber Co. 



§NITED fTATES 
^ULCANIZING ]§?00D AND 



2EUMBER 



f% 



OMPANY. 



CAPITAL STOOK, $3,000,000 

Divided into 30,000 Shares of $100 each. 



OFFICERS. 

WILLIAM DO WD, - President, 

WM. H. WICKHAM, - Vice President, 

HEM AN DOWD, - Secretary and Treasurer, 

SAMUEL E. HA SKIN, - Managing Director. 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 



William Dowd, 

New York C.ty, 

E. N. Dickerson, Jr., 

New York City, 

H. H. Cook, 

New York City, 

Henry Steers, 

New York City, 

Wm. H. Wickham, 

New York City, 

R. Lo Forte, 

New York City, 



Thomas F. Rowland, 

Brooklyn, N. Y., 

Lester B. Faulkner, 

Dansville, N. Y., 

Myron P. Bush, 

Buffalo, N. Y., 

Benj. W. Wooster, 

Albany, N. Y., 

Henry R. Pierson, 

Albany, N. Y., 

Oscar L. Hascy, 

Albany, N. Y., 

Samuel E. Haskin, 

Steuben Co., N. Y. 



EXECUTIVE OFFICE: 
Rooms 66 and 67, 

LIYEEPOOL BTJILDHsTG- 
4,5 William Street, 

NEW YO R K C [T Y. 



ggABLE or Contents. 



Page 

Seasoning of Wood and Lumber 7 

Preservation of Wood 12 

The Process of Vulcanizing Wood and Lumber ex- 
plained 17 

Heat and Pressure 20 

Vulcanizing Superior to any Method of Seasoning . 23 
Vulcanizing Develops, Perfects and Cures Lum- 
ber 26 

Vulcanizing renders Woods of all kinds more beau- 
tiful 28 

Vulcanizing Preserves Wood from Decay 30 

The Charring Process 34 

Changes effected through Heat 36 

Important Kesults from Chemical change 40 

The demand for ' ' Vulcanized " Wood and Lumber. . 43 
For all Kailroad Purposes, Vulcanized Wood and 

Lumber needed 45 

Vulcanized Wood and Lumber the most Suitable 

for Buildings 51 

Beautiful Woods in Architecture 57 

Conservatories 59 

Summer Resorts and Watering' Places 62 

Building of Ships t>3 

Furniture 67 

Pianos and other Musical Instruments 70 

Farm Implements and Machinery 72 

Fencing 74 

Building Carriages and Wagons 75 



4 

The fitness of Vulcanized Wood for Telegraph and 
Telephone Poles, cross-pieces and under ground 

boxes 77 

Vulcanized Wood useful in Breweries 78 

Damage to Lumber during Shipment 79 

Bridges, Wharves and Piers 81 

Levees and Dykes. 83 

Casks, Barrels, etc 36 

Burial Cases 87 

Collieries and other Mines 88 

Vulcanized Wood Superior to all other Material for 

the Construction of Pavements. 89 

What is the Value of the Process for Vulcanizing 

Wood 100 

Vulcanizing meets an Exigency of the Present Age. 
Seasoning only a temporary expedient of the 

Past 101 

The Preservation of Wood and Lumber necessary 

to prevent total destruction of the Forests 109 

The Timber Lands of Michigan 116 

Preservation of Timber 117 

The Consumption of Lumber . 119 

How our Forests are used up 119 

Importance of Forest Preservation 121 

The Pine Forests of Michigan being rapidly ex- 
hausted 122 

Necessity of Preserving our Wood 121 

How to save our Forests 125 

The Greatest Damage Done by Fire 126 

The Future of the Country 128 

Iowa Black Walnut carried to England 129 



$?HE 



OF 



Vulcanizing fpooD and Dumber. 



" The Man who adds a Science, or an Art, 
Or new Invention, practically wise, 
Leads the great host." 



Of all the products of the bounteous soil of our 
country timber is the most valuable, and enters most 
largely into our wants. Its conversion into wood and 
lumber for our manifold uses constitutes an industry 
of the first importance. 

Nothing contributes more to the comfort, prosperity, 
and material greatness of this nation, than wood and 
lumber. 

In every department of business on sea and land, in 
every stage of life from the cradle to the coffin, wood 
in some shape is an absolute necessity. No art can 
flourish, no industry prosper without wood. Although 
required for purposes almost countless, and in quanti- 
ties almost measureless, all wood and lumber must go 
through some sort of treatment to prepare it for use. 
Wood in its natural or green state, and filled with sap 
or fluid matter, is liable to important changes, not only 
of form, but in its very substance and structure, which 
greatly impair its usefulness. 



6 

These are due to the influence of the various condi- 
tions of atmosphere to which it must necessarily be 
exposed. Any loss of fluid matter, by exudation or 
evaporation when exposed to heat, will cause the wood 
to shrink, and absorption, when exposed to moisture, 
will cause it to swell. From shrinking and swelling, 
generally accompanied by warping and cracking, the 
wood will lose its shape and form, however beautifully 
and usefully it may have been faced, fashioned, and 
fitted by skill and labor. 

Again, the sap or fluid matter of green wood con- 
tains certain nitrogenous, organic compounds known 
chemically under the general name of albuminoids, 
and these substances in their natural state are active in 
inducing and favoring rot. The gummy, sugary matters 
found in these compounds under certain atmospheric 
influences are liable to fermentation, which once begun 
spreads with great rapidity, until by decomposition the 
structure, and all traces of the original organization of 
the wood are destroyed. 

Thus the sap or fluid matter in its natural state, as 
the original source of decay, and the prime cause of the 
other changes in wood, came to be considered as worse 
than useless, and as something to be gotten rid of; 
and the methods hitherto employed for preparing wood 
and lumber for its various purposes have been, for the 
most part, mere devices for driving out, for getting rid 
of the sap or fluid matter. 



-Seasoning of ^SSoob arxb ^Slumber never a 

-Success. 



Seasoning by what is known as the "natural process " 
was the first adopted for this purpose, and consisted 
in a slow drying out of the fluid matter of the wood 
by exposing it to the action of the open air. As the 
result sought could only be effected by an exposure of 
the wood for many seasons, this mode of treatment 
was termed "seasoning," and the treated wood was 
called ''seasoned." 

So generally, and for so long a time has this ' ' natural 
process " been in use, that the driving out of the sap 
by any means is called " seasoning," and wood which 
has parted with any portion of its sap is designated 
as "seasoned." While by "seasoning," some of the 
putrescible substances and fermentable principles are 
expelled, and the operation of the causes of decay is 
thus counteracted, or postponed to some extent, its 
chief object is to put wood into a condition to keep its 
shape and for in. 

The in. possibility of supplying a constantly increas- 
ing demand for seasoned lumber, by the slow natural 
process, has led to the invention and introduction of 
various methods of " seasoning" more rapidly by arti- 
ficial means.- 

Among these arc many ingenious contrivances for 
steaming and boiling the life, elasticity, and strength 



8 

out of the wood, and for warping, and cracking, and 
otherwise injuring it by currents of hot air. 

For forcibly extracting the sap. wood is sometimes 
placed in a vertical iron cylinder standing in a cistern 
of water closing the cylinder at top : the water is then 
healed and steam used to produce a partial vacuum, the 
sap relieved from atmospheric pressure oozes from the 
wood, and being converted into vapor passes off through 
a pipe provided for the purpose. 

Then again when time is precious, and strength of 
fibre of no consequence, wood is often submerged in 
running water in order to get the fluid matter out of 
it. This treatment is based upon the idea that sap. by 
reason of tire matters which it holds in solution, is 
more dense than water, and not so easily evaporated. 
Hence when the sap is dissolved and washed out. the 
water which in a measure takes its place, is readily 
evaporated from the wood by a drying process. The 
effect of water is to dissolve much of the substance of 
the wood, thereby impairing its strength, and rendering 
it brittle and unfit for many purposes. 

Another of the rapid artifical methods of * ' seasoning. " 
and the one most generally employed in this country is 
" kiln-drying." This consists in placing the wood in 
a chamber, and subjecting it to the action of hot air. or 
super-heated steam, and by a slow process of distillation 
the sap is expelled. The wood loses much of its life 
and strength, its fibre is rendered brittle, and the 
depleted pores readily absorb moisture : then the wood 
swells, and when that moisture is expelled, the wood 
shrinks, and it continues thus to swell and shrink 



9 

alternately with the variations of atmospheric condi- 
tions. The wood has had its fluid matter driven out, 
and it is what is called "seasoned," but it certainly will 
not keep its shape and form. 

Notwithstanding the increased and increasing de- 
mands for lumber, and of the great urgency, the neces- 
sity for the more rapid artificial means of seasoning, the 
old fashioned " natural process," the one longest in use, 
introduced probably as early as the building of the Ark, 
is, strange to say, both in this country and in Europe, 
the most generally approved, and most generally used 
at the present day. 

This process is therefore entitled to more than a 
passing notice. It should be examined in detail,, its 
mode of application, its cost, the time required, its 
effect, all its merits and demerits should be carefully 
considered, that we may see how little we have advanced 
in this age of progress in a business of such magnitude 
and importance as the "seasoning " of lumber. 

This treatment in the natural way, as it is termed, 
and as heretofore explained, is a slow process of desicca- 
tion by exposing the wood or lumber to the action of 
the open air. 

The green wood or lumber is stacked or piled with 
intervening strips so as to permit the air to circulate 
freely between the pieces. The sap, or fluid matter 
(which in its natural state is highly soluble by water) is 
dissolved by the moisture of the atmosphere, and when 
thus diluted is more readily evaporated. In the course 
of time, the loss in the weight and measurement of the 
wood will show that much of the fluid matter has been 
dissolved and expelled, while thai portion of the wood 
or lumber, which has been in contact with the air, will 



10 

seem dry. But when a few shavings are taken off the 
outside, and a new surface is exposed, the fresh fluid 
matter, not before in contact with the air, will in its 
turn be dissolved, diluted and evaporated by the action 
of the atmosphere, and the wood or lumber from its 
loss will again shrink, and such will be the result even 
after it has been kept for half a century. 

One of the greatest objections to the ''natural pro- 
cess/' is, that it is too slow. The great length of time 
required in the operation for proper treatment necessi- 
tates the carrying of heavy stocks of lumber, and a large 
outlay of capital and loss of interest, to which must be 
added large bills of taxes and insurance, besides a very 
considerable loss of material by the shrinking, warping, 
cracking, and the rotting of the lumber. 

The wood and lumber is tougher and stronger, and in 
many respects better than that treated by the artificial 
methods described, but like all ' ' seasoned " lumber it is 
porous, and from inequality of shrinkage is wanting in 
uniformity of structure, is rough aud uneven in grain 
and surface, and requires thorough priming before be- 
ing painted, as well as elaborate filling or sizing before 
it is varnished or polished. The necessity for this labor 
and expense results in a great measure from driving the 
sap or fluid matter out of the wood. 

The "open air" treatment is too slow, and the 
"more rapid artincal" processes are also too sloiu, and 
all of them combined fall far short of supplying even 
with imperfectly seasoned material the demands of 
this rapid age. 

The truth is all these processes for " seasoning " are 
failures. They are based upon error, are wrong in- 
theory and practice. The idea of driving out the fluid 



11 



matter, and thus depriving wood of essential constitu- 
ents and useful properties is absurd. The attempt 
to produce a condition of wood that is wholly unlike 
its living state is contrary to common sense, and at war 
with nature. 



'©he IZPve&evvaiion of QSood, 



By the rotting of wood, which we see around us 
wherever we turn our eyes, there is not only a loss of 
the material, but of the labor and skill by which it has 
been converted to our uses. In America, until recently, 
timber has been so abundant, and lumber so cheap, 
that but little thought has been given to this constant 
and wide spread destruction of wood, and the immense 
loss thus annually incurred 

But with the march of civilization, the increase of 
population, and the multiplied necessities and require- 
ments of wood and lumber for all the arts and indus- 
tries, the great forests of the country have disappeared 
so rapidly, that the possibility of a scarcity of wood is 
not only recognized, but the question of a sufficient 
supply, in the near future, has become a serious prob- 
lem, and the necessity of its preservation from decay 
is beginning to be realized. 

More than fifty years ago, the necessity for preserving 
wood and lumber became so apparent in European coun- 
tries, that many scientists and inventors engaged in the 
investigation of the subject, and in' efforts to discover 
some means of accomplishing that important result. 

As early as 1832 Dr. Kyan demonstrated the fact, 
that the decay of wood was due to the fermentation of 
the albumen of the sap, and he adopted the method of 
injecting into the wood a solution of corrosive sublimate, 
for the purpose of coagulating the albumen, and thereby 



13 

preventing fermentation and decay. Practical exper- 
ience proved it a success, and he received from the 
English Government a patent for his discovery. 

This process proved too expensive for general appli- 
cation, and the wood treated by it was found to be 
unfit for many purposes. 

Subsequently Sir Wm. Burnett, an English inventor, 
discovered that chloride of zinc, which was not so ex- 
pensive, would accomplish the same results, but it was 
found that this material rendered the wood brittle. 
" Burnettized " wood has been used to some extent in 
this country, especially in bridge timbers, many of 
which, on account of impaired strength, have had to 
be replaced. 

Following these discoveries, Payne, Margary, Bou 
cherie, Reid, Moll, and other English and French in- 
ventors took patents for the use of sulphate of copper, 
iron, upion, and pure creosote, tannin and hydrocar- 
bon oils, all making the same claim, viz : the coagula- 
tion of the albumen of the sap. 

The modern "creosoting " process, now in use for some 
purposes, was an invention of John Bethell of England, 
and first patented by him July 11th, 1838. It consists 
in impregnating the wood with oil of tar and other 
bituminous matters containing creosote, which is done 
in the following manner : the wood is placed in a 
closed iron cylinder from which, by the use of a pump, 
the air is exhausted until a vacuum is produced. This 
is done to draw out the air and superabundant mois- 
ture contained in the pores of the wood, that is, to de- 
plete the pores and make room for the oil. The oil, 
warmed to a temperature of about 120° Fht., is then 
introduced into the chamber, and by means of a pump 



14 

is forced into the depleted pores of the wood by a pres- 
sure of from 150 to 200 pounds to the square inch. 

The claim for this process is not only the coagulation 
of the albumen of the sap by the creosote, but also the 
filling of the pores with oil, so that the wood will not 
absorb moisture. The necessity of producing a vacuum, 
of displacing some of the natural fluids of the wood, 
and of heating the oil as a preparation for its introduc- 
tion makes the process very elaborate and tedious. 

Another serious objection to " creeseting/' which 
obtains as to "Kyanizing ,, and " Burnettizingy ' also, 
is that the machinery is complicated and costly, re- 
quiring scientific control and skillful handling, and the 
materials employed are too expensive. 

Practical experience has shown that a foreign sub- 
stance cannot be forced into wood while its pores are 
filled with its own fluids. Hence the absolute neces- 
sity of driving out, or drawing out the sap, and in 
some way depleting the pores of the wood. In other 
words, the wood must be carried through some process 
of seasoning before it can be creosoted. 

And as the pores of heart-wood are filled with ela- 
borated sap which cannot be drawn out or displaced, 
such wood cannot be impregnated with the oil by the 
means employed. Only the sap-wood therefore of many 
kinds of timber can be creosoted. 

Mr. Bethell himself states that ' k It is impossible to 
drive the oil into the heart-wood : only the sap-wood 
can be impregnated." 

Only such woods can be properly treated as will, after 
the expulsion of their own fluid, take up a large quantity 
of creosote oil. 

Another objection to the process is that all timber 
must be shaped, bored and scarfed, etc. , before treat- 



15 

merit, that timber once converted should not he cut 
in any way. 

Again in creosoting there is difficulty frequently in ob- 
taining oil of such specific gravity as will admit of ready 
penetration even into sap-wood, owing to the fact that 
chemical works are extracting from the oil every in- 
gredient that can be utilized for other purposes, leaving 
only the residuum for use in the treatment of wood. 
Hence the growing scarcity and iu creasing price of the 
creosote oil. 

Some times only thick oil can be obtained, which 
cannot be used until, by application of steam, it has 
been melted, and even then it cannot be forced into the 
timber without difficulty. 

After satisfactory practical tests, the effectiveness of 
Bethell's process has passed out of the region of theory 
and experiment. It is now an acknowledged fact, 
that wood of any kind, which, by preparation, can be 
rendered susceptible of a sufficient impregnation with 
creosote oil, will certainly be preserved from decay. 

It should be borne in mind, however-, that the wood 
and lumber treated by this process is only fit for piles, 
ties, bridge timbers, fencing, and outside work, and 
cannot" be used for mechanical purposes, and for inside 
work, because of the strong, offensive odour. 

But in spite of its limited uses and elaborate methods, 
in spite of the great complication and cost of the 
machinery, and the difficulty and expense of getting a 
sufficient quantity of proper material to be used, the 
" Bethel 1 v process has been adopted to some extent in 
Europe, thus showing the great desire for some pro- 
cess, which will preserve the life and increase the dura- 
bility of wood; and Jno. Betholl, Sir Wm. Burnett, 



16 

Dr. Kyan and others, who have demonstrated the fact 
that wood and lumber can be preserved from decay, 
deserve to be gratefully remembered. 

For an American genius of our own day and gen- 
eration was reserved the glory, the enduring fame of 
discovering in the properties of the wood itself, the 
elements of its development, preparation for use, and 
preservation from decay ; in the forces of nature, the 
means of their utilization; and in " vulcanizing," the art 
of employing in the most effective manner these natural 
elements and forces. 



^hc ^2Procc^s of 'Vulcanizing QSood arxb 
.-Slumber explained. 



The wood or lumber is piled on a wheeled car with 
strips intervening as done in the lumber yard. This car 
when loaded is drawn into an iron cylinder of suitable 
size, which, when the doors are closed, is air-tight. By 
a system of pipes inside the chamber, and surrounding 
the car load of wood or lumber, steam or hot water is 
introduced, so as to raise the temperature of the cham- 
ber to any degree desired. A pump is employed to 
force air into the chamber. While the wood is being 
subjected to a great heat, there is such a pressure put 
upon it, by the air, as will prevent the evaporation of the 
sap. The fluid matters are not driven out, but are 
held in the wood by pressure until they are chemically 
changed, or cured by the heat. The evaporation of the 
juices of the wood being prevented by pressure, while the 
heat coagulates the albumen, and developes certain resin- 
ous and oleaginous substances, which, in the operation, 
are dispersed through and solidified with the fibres and 
cells. The sap, thus retained and utilized in the wood 
as the best and most natural filling for the pores, and 
cement for the fibres, makes of the woody structure a 
dense, dry and uniform mass, tough and strong, and 
preserved from fermentation and decay. 

In " Vulcanizing, " the chemistry of nature is made 
use of in developing and perfecting, preparing and pre- 
serving wood and lumber. 



18 

It is a scientific fact, that the degree of heat nec- 
essary to create ebullition, or evaporation of a liquid, 
depends upon the amount of pressure (atmospheric or 
gaseous) upon its surface. The greater the pressure, 
the higher the temperature required to bring the liquid 
to a boiling or evaporating point. Water under the 
pressure of the atmosphere (15 pounds to the square 
inch) cannot be made to boil, to expand into steam, 
with less than 212 degrees of heat. But if the pressure 
be removed, as it is when water is in vacuum, much 
less heat will cause ebullition and evaporation. So 
when water -or other liquid, as the sap, is placed in a 
chamber and subjected to a great pressure, more than 
212 degrees of heat will be required to bring it to a 
boiling point, and cause its escape in steam. 

It is also a scientific fact, that by heat important 
chemical changes can be produced in almost all sub- 
stances. 

In " Vulcanizing " wood these principles have been 
utilized. An artificial pressure of 150 or 200 pounds 
to the square inch, equal to 10 or 12 atmospheres, is put 
upon the wood so as to prevent ebullition, and, conse- 
quently, evaporation of the fluid matter or sap, while, 
at the same time, the high heat effects a change in the 
substances of which this sap or fluid matter is com- 
posed. Vaporization is prevented by the pressure, and 
by the heat, the resinous and other vaporizable pro- 
ducts are coagulated, solidified, and fixed in the wood, 
filling the pores and connecting the fibres, all being so 
changed and cured, as to prevent fermentation and 
consequent decay. 

ei Vulcanizing" thus perfects crude wood or lumber 
by the development and modification of its natural ele- 



19 

merits. When the wood has been heated to the centre, 
the work is done. Of course all insects, worms, and 
germs will be destroyed in the operation. 

Time. 
Inch boards should be subjected to the heat and pres- 
sure from 3 to 6 hours. For wood of greater thickness 
a longer time is required. 

Expense. 

The price of the fuel employed in producing the 
neccessary heat, added, to the expense of handling the 
wood, will cover the whole cost of " vulcanizing" 



^foeai and ^SPreseurc. 



The efficiency of the means employed, and the re- 
markable results accomplished by the ' ' vulcanizing pro - 
cess " may be readily understood upon a moment's 
consideration, and a common -sense application of cer- 
tain simple and well known facts pertaining to the 
growth of the tree, the nature of wood, and the causes 
of its decay. 

Heat and pressure, the agents employed in the art of 
vulcanizing, are the simple forces by which many 
wonders are worked in the vast economy of nature. 

In the inception, organization, growth and develop- 
ment of vegetable life heat and pressure are so necessary, 
that it may in truth be said, without them, we would 
have no wood. 

Life, however excited into action by heat and moisture 
in the seed, could never be organized into the plumule 
of the plantlet without heat and pressure. Nor could 
that strange, but essential nucleus of life and growth, 
the "pithy column," be formed for every branch and 
stem of the plant without heat and pressure. 

The crude, or elementary sap taken up by the roots, 
could not be converted into formative fluid, nor forma- 
tive fluid into formative tissues, nor formative tissues into 
cellular and vascular tissues, nor the cellular and vascular 
tissues into flattened imperforate cells and tubular fibres, 
nor could these weave themselves, as woof and warp into 



21 

wood structure, and become dense, hard and firm around 
the " pithy column," without heat and pressure. 

So, in the farther growth of the plant stem, as year 
by year the upward flowing' sap receives its chemical 
changes by the action of the leaf, and then descending 
under the bark forms a layer of woody substance around 
its centre, until the stem develops into the trunk of a 
tree ; and, as these annual formations are compressed 
into concentric rings of hard, firm wood, marking dis- 
tinctly each year's growth, we see the results of heat 
and pressure ; when, in the course of time, these 
rings aggregate around the centre of the tree, and 
mature in the order of their growth ; and, when the 
cells and fibres, all filled and strengthened by a deposit 
of perfected, solidified sap, cohere firmly into a strong, 
tough mass, forming the dark colored and durable 
heart-wood, we see the wonderful results of the two 
great forces of nature, heat and pressure. 

In its growing state wood is stronger, tougher and 
more elastic than when dry. Its natural fluids contain 
all the antiseptic elements and properties necessary to 
its own preservation. The tree in the forest exposed 
to atmospheric changes for centuries does not decay; 
and not until its supply of these fluids is cut off by fell- 
ing or girdling does disintegration of fibre commence. 

Disintegration may proceed from wet rot, or dry rot, 
both of which are caused by fermentation of the al- 
bumen of the sap. 

In this connection attention should be called to the 
important fact, that the heart, or perfected wood con- 
tains very little fluid and very little vegetable lif(\ and 
is therefore less liable to decay than the young, soli 
sap-wood, which is full of fluid, abounding in vegetable 
life and fermentable elements. A large portion of 



22 

this sap-wood, nearly thirty per cent of some kinds 
of lumber, which cannot be rendered fit for use by 
any of the " seasoning" processes, is thrown away or 
consumed as fire wood. 

These facts should be remembered in order that the 
merits of " Vulcanizing " may be fully understood and 
appreciated, when compared with other methods of 
treating wood. All the processes by which the treat- 
ment of wood has been attempted are based upon the 
idea that the sap is not only useless, but injurious. 

In " seasoning, " the more fluid portion of the sap is 
driven out simply to get rid of it, but in the various 
attempts at "preserving " wood, to which reference has 
been made, it must be driven out, to make room for the 
introduction of some foreign substance intended to pre- 
vent decay. ' ' Vulcanizing " is based upon the idea, that 
all the fluid m after of the wood is as useful as the 
fibre which is made of it, that it is necessary to the 
life and strength of the wood after the tree has been 
felled, that it contains constituents and properties 
essential in keeping the wood in the condition of its 
normal and growing state ; and, therefore, it seeks 
to retain and utilize the fluid matter in the wood. 

Thus the "art of vulcanizing" wood and lumber 
reverses the whole theory and practice of all the other 
processes. Howe reversed the eye of the needle, and this 
little change of an old method has worked a revo- 
lution in important industries, so, the simple device of 
keeping the fluid matter in the wood, instead of driving 
it out, will work a revolution in the great wood and 
lumber industries of the world . 



u '1X5 u (camming " -Superior io ang IXffieihob 
of u .Seasoning." 



We have already noticed at some length the various 
methods of seasoning by the natural or open air process, 
and by artificial means, the time required, the loss by 
shrinking, cracking, warping and rotting during the 
treatment, the necessity of carrying large stocks of 
lumber, involving the outlay of capital, loss of interest, 
taxes, insurance, etc. Attention has also been called to 
the fact that the wood or lumber is only imperfectly 
seasoned by any of these processes, and is positively 
injured by others. The driving out of the fluid matter, 
whether by natural or artificial means, while it utterly 
fails to prevent swelling and shrinking, (one of the 
main objects of seasoning) not only diminishes the life 
and strength of the lumber (rendering it brittle, as in 
kiln-drying), but makes it porous, rough, and un- 
even in grain, thus creating a necessity for the further 
labor and expense of priming and filling. Thousand 
of gallons of oil are annually required in filling the 
pores of this seasoned lumber to prevent its absorbing 
the oil of the paint, and leaving dry pigment on the 
surface. To fill the pores, and smooth the rough grain 
of this seasoned lumber with sizing in order to make, by 
artificial means, a proper surface to receive a perma 
nnil polish or varnish finish, involves groat labor and 
^ expense. 



24 

The beautiful coloring and lustre of the natural wood 
is often deadened and dimmed by these processes, and 
the lumber, especially in kiln-drying, is rendered so brit- 
tle, that in planing or sawing the fibre is broken into 
a fine powder which fills the air and often proves in- 
jurious to the lungs of the operatives. 

( ' Vulcanizing, " following the course taught by nature, 
and dictated by common sense, retains and utilizes the 
sajJ in the wood. 

As the fluids supplied to wood in its growing state are 
by heat and pressure made to contribute to its life, 
strength and durability, so, in " Vulcanizing," the same 
forces are employed to make the fluids already fur- 
nished contribute to the life, strength, and durability of 
the wood when cut into lumber. 

In nature, with the pressure of the atmosphere, only 
15 pounds to the square inch, and the natural heat 
of the sun, much time is required for the changes in the 
fluids. In " Vulcanizing, " with 150 or 200 pounds 
pressure, and with 250 or 300 degrees of heat, the results 
are obtained in a few hours. 

By a chemical action induced by heat and pressure 
th<> fluid matter is completely changed. Its albumen 
and other soluble matters are coagulated and rendered 
insoluble, and become a woody substance, fixed in the 
cells and solidified with the fibre. The compound thus 
formed cannot be affected by the heat and moisture 
of the atmosphere. The wood will not therefore lose it; 
not losing it, the wood will not shrink ; not shrinking, 
it will not warp and crack; and with its pores filled 
and fibres united, the wood will not swell from the 
absorption of moisture ; not swelling, or shrinking, 
the wood will keep its shape and form, a result which 
has never been accomplished by any process of "sea- 



25 

soning." Moreover, in "Vulcanizing," the heat developes 
the resinous and oleaginous properties of the sap, which, 
by the aid of the pressure, are diffused through the whole 
structure of the wood, cementing the cells and fibres, 
and forming them into a homogeneous mass of great 
density, toughness, strength, and uniformity. 

When " Vulcanized, " wood or lumber is thoroughly 
cured, and is at once ready and fit for use. Its quality 
and condition is such that it can be employed for all 
mechanical purposes, for inside as well as outside work, 
whether plain or ornamental; it yields readily to all 
kinds of tools, is capable of the highest finish, and sus- 
ceptible of a beautiful and lasting polish; it needs no 
paint or varnish, but its pores and fibres being filled and 
cemented with its own fluids, it is sized and primed, 
and will receive either paint or varnish without further 
preparation. From its uniform surface the plane makes 
a smooth, even shaving as glossy as a silk ribbon, and 
through its strong and closely bound fibres the saw 
makes a clean cut without breaking or tearing, and no 
injurious powder or dust is made in these operations. 



u / l&ulcaTxx&\n£ " ^epctopc^ ^Perfects arxb 
©urcs the ,-Slumber. 



' i Vulcanizing " is applicable to all kinds of wood. 
Many of the soft, succulent, gummy woods, almost 
worthless even for fuel, if they could be seasoned at all 
by other processes, are not considered worth the pains 
and expense. By the curing effects of this process, they 
are converted into hard, firm, durable and useful lum- 
ber. 

Even the young or sap-wood cut in rough slabs from 
the log, and generally thrown away, can by " vulcan- 
izing" be so developed, cured and preserved as to make 
as good lumber for shingles and all other purposes as 
that made of the heart or old wood. 

The sap-wood contains all the elements which com- 
pose the heart- wood, and in " vulcanizing," these ele- 
ments are, by heat and pressure, utilized in the 
sap-wood as they were by nature in forming the 
heart-wood. 

Lumber is often filled with knots from which the 
regular fibre of wood will, by any "seasoning" process, 
shrink, and draw away, causing them to drop out, and 
thus render the lumber almost useless except for ordi- 
nary fencing. If, however, the knots should remain in 
their places the exudation of juices to which they are 



27 

subject, ruins the effect of paint, varnish and polish, 
unless they are treated by an elaborate and expensive 
process known as " knotting." In all cases the knots 
must be "killed" before any ''seasoned'' lumber is 
used. 

This is done by catting away the knots to a certain 
depth, and then filling over them with putty or a like 
substance. Sometimes the knots are covered with gold 
or silver leaf, or with a kind of "knot sizing." 

In l ' vulcanized " lumber there is no necessity for any 
such work. The wood does not shrink away from the 
knots, and the knots themselves are cured. Their juices, 
like those of the surrounding wood, are coagulated, 
solidified, and fixed, or set. They not only do not lose 
their fluids by exudation, but are retained and held firm 
in their places, and become homogeneous with and a per- 
manent part of the lumber, giving variations of texture 
and coloring to the wood which add greatly to its 
beauty. 



" ^Sidcaxxizixx^ ' renders / l££oob& of all 
kinds more beautiful. 



The difference in the grain and color of wood is due 
to the manner in which the cells and fibres combine in 
growth, and the kind and quality of fluid matter de- 
deposited in them. The more matured and solidified sap 
imparts the darker colors, as seen in the old or heart- 
woods. 

" Vulcanizing,' 5 by developing the resinous, oleagi- 
nous and other properties of the sap, and by diffusing 
and solidifying them in and through the cells and fibres, 
brings out the grain of the wood in the richest and most 
beautiful colors. The masses of fibre, and intervening- 
veins in the circles of growth, crossed by the medullary 
rays of flattened cells, with every peculiarity of forma- 
tion and combination, are distinctly marked by the 
various shades and tints of coloring imparted by the 
fluid matter. When "vulcanized" wood has passed 
through the hands of the skillful finisher and polisher, 
these beauties are developed and exhibited with striking 
effect. The deep red and yellow of the hard parts of 
the wood and the delicate white of the soft parts show 
through the polish in beautiful contrast. The veins of 
light yellow look like streaks of pure amber, or layers 
of gold. The commonest and cheapest woods are so 
much improved in appearance by " Vulcanizing" that 
they may be used for decorative purposes. 



29 

The ordinary ' ' hemlock, " when " vulcanized, " is more 
beautiful than the imported and expensive ' ' white 
ash." 

The effect of this process upon ' ' pitch pine, " one of 
the cheapest woods in the market, is truly remarkable. 
In that of regular growth, the hard wood is made to look 
like fine old mahogany. In that of irregular growth, 
the old wood is brought out in clumps of various forms, 
in dark, rich colors, encircled and shaded with the more 
delicate tints of the younger formations, all embellished 
and illumined by the golden hues and silver rays of 
veins in numberless irregular waves, and when mirrored 
forth in the bright and lasting polish, of which it is sus- 
ceptible, it presents a mottled, dappled appearance, more 
exquisite than that of the most rare and precious woods. 
Even the rare and precious woods imported at great 
expense cannot take useful form, and beautiful appear- 
ance, by any "seasoning" process, without careful 
keeping for many years. By " Vulcanizing " they are, 
in a few hours, given a density of fibre, uniformity and 
smoothness of grain and surface which fits them for use 
at once, and their beautiful coloring matter is brought 
out in a fulness and richness which only great age could 
develop. 

Green mahogany, when " vulcanized," looks like 
mahogany thirty years old. 



u 



^Jidcani^in^ " QPreserpe^ roood from 

Secan,. 



It will not be difficult to show the efficiency and 
value of the '"vulcanizing process" in preserving wood 
and lumber from decay. 

We have seen that wood in its growing state is fur- 
nished with the elements of life, strength, and preser- 
vation by its continued supply of the natural fluids ; 
that when cut down, it is liable to decay, which 
always commences in the fluid matter which it con- 
tains. Decay, whether in the form of what is called 
wet rot. or dry rot. is caused by fermentation Fer- 
mentation, in all vegetable substances, results from 
exposure to the influences of heat, and moisture, alter- 
nations of wet. and dry, or continued moisture with 
heat. Fermentation is defined to be "a state of vege- 
table matter, the component parts of which have ac- 
quired sufficient force to produce an intestinal motion, 
by which the oleaginous, saccharine, gummy, and albu- 
menous particles exert their several peculiar attractive 
and repulsive powers, forming new combinations which 
at first change, and at length altogether destroy the 
texture of the substance they formerly composed." 

This condition of timber, when aided by heat and 
fungi, is followed by complete decomposition in which 
all trace of organization is lost, and only dry dust re- 
mains. Experience has shown that this fermentation, this 
change, this alteration and new combination in wood can 



31 

be prevented by the coagulation of the albumen of the 
sap. Hence the claim for all the preservative processes 
now in use. is the prevention of fermentation, by the 
coagulation of albumen. And this is done after the dis- 
placement of sap from the pores by the introduction of 
some foreign substance. It is a well known scien- 
tific fact that 1 70° of heat will coagulate the albumen of 
the sap. The 250° or 300° of heat employed in "Vul- 
canizing'' will thoroughly accomplish that important 
result. In some of the processes the coagulation of the 
albumen is effected by the use of a substance antiseptic 
in its nature, such as creosote, pyroligneous acid, 
tannin, and hydro-carbon oils. 

It so happens that all these are contained in the 
natural fluids of wood, and may be obtained by its dis- 
tillation, so, that, when preparing the wood for the in- 
troduction of these substances, by depleting its pores 
to make room for them, there is a loss of precisely the 
same antiseptic properties as those sought to be in- 
jected by artificial means. 

In " Vulcanizing," the natural fluids are kept in the 
wood, and the great heat employed not only coagulates 
the albumen, but developes in the fluids the oils which 
contain the antiseptic properties, such as creosote, pyro- 
ligneous acid, etc, while the great pressure prevents 
their escape ami causes them to be distilled in and 
through the cells and fibres of the wood, and to con- 
dense and solidify with them. 

Superiority was claimed forthe " creosoting " process 
overall the others in use. because it not only coagulates 
the albumen, but, by filling the pores of the wood with 
oil, prevents the absorption of moisture. 



32 

"Vulcanizing" not only coagulates the albumen, but 
fills the pores of the wood with an insoluble compound 
made up of the albumen and certain resinous and olea- 
ginous substances of the sap, which also prevents the 
absorption of moisture. 

Thus w ' Vulcanizing'' in preserving wood, as in pre- 
paring and beautifying it for all its purposes, deals with 
and makes use of the natural fluids which it contains. 

It should be borne in mind that in ''creosoting/' 
"Burnettizing," "Kyanizing, ,, etc., coagulation of albu- 
men, and thereby preservation from decay, can only be 
effected by a foreign substance introduced into the wood. 
This can be done in sap-wood and certain kinds of 
woods, by drawing or driving out a portion of the fluids, 
and pressing the preservative substance into the empty 
pores. But in heart wood of many kinds, and in both 
sap and heart of some kinds of woods, the fluids are so 
solidified that thev cannot be drawn out, nor can the 
foreign substances be forced in. There is, therefore, a 
vast amount of wood and lumber, which cannot be pre- 
served from decay by any such processes. The simple, 
natural, common sense process of ' ' Vulcanizing " is 
applicable to both sap and heart of all kinds of woods. 
It utilizes the substances already in them. The heat 
which it employs will penetrate all kinds of wood, 
coagulate the albumen, and develope the antiseptic pro- 
perties wherever sap in any form may be found. The 
sap-wood full of its vegetable iuices, and the heart- 
wood, however matured and compact, are alike suscep- 
tible of the treatment, are alike preserved by its effect. 

Scientists have said that when the tree has been sep- 
arated from its roots, the sap contains the principle of 
vegetation, which, by certain influences of the atmos- 



33 

phere, is brought into activity, causing dry rot, and 
other species of decay. 

In " Vulcanizing " the vegetation, or living principle 
of the sap is arrested and destroyed by the great heat 
to which it is subjected. 

This effect of heat is illustrated and proved beyond 
the necessity for further experiment or argument by 
the results of what is called the "charring process." 



3 



'xSlhe u (§lhavvir\£ I^Proces^. 



9-? 



An experience of ages has shown, beyond al] ques- 
tion, that the " charring " of wood will preserve it from 
decay. By this process, used by the Venetians for a 
long time, especially for piles, wood has been made to 
last for centuries. 

After the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was destroyed 
it w T as found to have been built on charred piles. At 
Herculaneum, after 2,000 years, charred w T ood was found 
whole and undiminished. In the Leverian Museum 
there was a post, said to have been dug out of Fleet 
Ditch, charred at the lower end, with the name of Julius 
Caesar cut in it. From time immemorial, particularly 
in France, it has been the practice to char the ends 
of poles driven into the ground, and charred wood has 
in many countries been employed as land marks. 

Mr. James Randall, an English architect, says "char- 
ring," only, can be relied on in all cases as an effectual 
protection against dry rot." 

The "Revue Horticole " states, that Wi charring" has 
been proved to be the best mode of prolonging the dur- 
ation of wood. 

Many sleepers on Belgian railways are charred, the 
engineers preferring this process. 

"Charring" is but a crude and imperfect mode of 
" vulcanizing. " 

As a preserving process " charring " is based upon the 
only correct principle, that of utilizing the natural fluids 



35 

of the wood by coagulating, solidifying, fixing them in 
the wood so as to preclude fermentation or chemical 
change, thus rendering the wood harder, denser, tougher 
and stronger, while at the same time preserving it from 
decay. To do this, heat alone is emplo}~ed. But in " char- 
ring " it is difficult to cause the heat to penetrate to the 
centre of timber without burning too deeply, and injur- 
ing the whole structure. Hence charred fence posts, 
after many years, are all perfectly sound as far as the 
heat has penetrated, but some may be found rotten in 
the centre. 

Then again, in "charring," while some of the fluids 
may not be reached, others necessarily escape from the 
wood and are lost in the operation. 

But, in " Vulcanizing, " the heat is made to penetrate 
through and through to the very centre, and the fluids 
are so held, confined by pressure, that none of them can 
escape the action of the heat. 

The "charring" process, which has been tested by 
the world for centuries, had proved before the art of 
"vulcanizing" was discovered, that the coagulation of 
albumen, and prevention of fermentation and decay in 
wood could be accomplished, by heat. 



®han<ge# effected through ,-Sbeaf. 



These, to some extent, are simply but strikingly 
illustrated in the household chemistry of every day life. 

Heat is employed to prevent and arrest fermentation 
in all the preserved fruits and confections of the pan- 
try. Its power of coagulation and of producing changes 
in substances is fully shown by its remarkable effect 
upon the albuminous matters of the egg when cooked 
in the kitchen. In every 100 parts of the egg com- 
posed of white and yolk there are 71 and three-fourths 
parts water, 14 albumen, 13 fat, etc., and 1 and one- 
fourth phosphates, etc. When these albuminous liquids, 
with their large percentage of water, are subjected to 
212° of heat, they become solidified by coagulation. 
This solidified substance, thus produced by heat, con- 
tains in 100 parts, 19 and a half of albumen, 40 of fat, 
etc., and 4 and a half phosphates, etc., but no water. 

In their natural state, the fluids of the egg, although 
composed so largely of water, could readily be dissolved 
with water, but when coagulated by heat they become 
insoluble. Their 14 per cent of albumen is converted 
into 49 and a half per cent., their 13 per cent, of fat, 
etc., into 46 percent., and their 1 and one-fourth per 
cent, of phosphates, etc. , into 4 and a half per cent. , while 
their 71 and three-fourths per cent, of water is gone. 

How wonderful the change of the soluble into the in- 
soluble ! The watery liquid white of an egg is converted 



37 

into a solid, having the chemical properties of fibrine, a 
result which, although seen every day, has never been 
explained. 

Heat plays an important part in reference to chemi- 
cal force by which bodies are united and disunited. It 
increases the affinities of substances for each other. In 
the case of the coagulation of the egg fluids, more than 
half of the water combines with the albumen, little less 
than half with the fat, etc., and the balance with the 
phosphates, etc. 

It is also a remarkable fact that water, under a 
pressure sufficient to prevent its escape in steam, may 
be so highly heated in liquid state, that it will decompose 
natural fat, and as an organic base form a perfect and 
fixed combination with certain fatty elements. This 
combination of water with the elements of fat, really 
the mixing of oil and water, seems more singular than 
the combination of water with the albumen of the egg. 

In the metamorphoses of the soluble albumen into the 
insoluble, during the process of incubation of the egg, 
heat performs an important part. 

The temperature to which the egg of the lien is 
submitted, at intervals, for a period of three weeks, is 
about 104°. Under this influence the albumen of the 
white of the egg, which is entirely soluble in cold water, 
is in 21 days converted into a fully developed chicken, 
which feeds upon the yolk. The soluble albumen 
assumes the insoluble condition in the form of bone, 
beak, feathers, claws, etc. The same result can be 
produced by artificial heat, and in some kinds of eggs 
by the heat of the sun, but (here can be no organization 
without cohesion, and u<> cohesion without atmospheric 
pressure. So that, when, in incubation, the soluble 
albumen is not only converted into the insoluble, but 



38 

also into fibrine, as seen in tbe muscular fibre, and into 
gelatinous tissues, as it exists in the bone of the 
chicken, heat (whether animal, artifical, or of the sun) 
and pressure are both employed. 

Just so the soluble is converted into the insoluble, 
when, through the agency of heat and pressure, cel- 
lulose and lignine. compounds formed of carbon united 
with oxygen and hydrogen, (the elements of water) 
are organized into the young wood of the growing tree. 
And so. also, is the soluble converted into the insoluble, 
when the albuminous, glutinous, resinous and olea- 
ginous compounds of the fluid matter found in wood 
and lumber are sujected to heat and pressure as in 
'•vulcanizing." 

The pitchy substances of pine wood liable to fermen- 
tation and decomposition in their natural state are, by 
heat, converted into rosin which will not rot. 

The ordinary pitch pine, with which many of our 
Southern States abound, although a very durable wood, 
is liable to rapid decay in contact with lime, and in 
confined, warm and damp situations : but, when " vul- 
canized," heat not only coagulates the albumen of 
its sap. but converts its pitchy juices into an oil. which 
by pressure is diffused through the wood. By the 
oxidation of this oil, all the pores become filled with 
rosin, which, being in no manner affected by atmospheric 
heat and moisture, remains permanently in the wood 
preventing it from swelling and shrinking. The wood, 
thus filled with a material having in it the elements of 
varnish, is not only perfectly beautiful in grain and 
color, but is susceptible of a polish far more brilliant 
and lasting than any coat which can be given with a 
brush. '•Vulcanized pitch pine v is as hard and as 



39 

strong as oak; it rivals the precious woods in beauty of 
appearance, is a practical non-conductor of electricity 
and of heat, resists the ravages of the " Teredo Navalis," 
and of the "comejen," or (wood louse), and the ants of 
Panama and other tropical countries, audit willnot rot. 



2^mporianf ^2fte#uUs from (Shemical 

(Shcmge. 



Until recently, according to the "London Times," 
the annual production of steel in Great Britain was 
not over 50,000 tons, and at a cost of 8300 per ton. By 
an ingenious method of applying heat, discovered by 
Sir Henry Bessemer, a change is now effected in pig- 
iron whereby a million tons or more of steel can be 
produced every year at a cost so reduced that steel 
can be substituted for iron for many important pur- 
poses, and millions of money be saved. The Bessemer 
Process, which has already earned for its inventor not 
only fame, but also a princely fortune, is simply a 
method of " vulcanizing" which greatly improves the 
quality of the iron. 

"Camphor," a vegetable, product from the sap of 
wood, is by heat so entirely changed in its nature, that 
it enters largely into the production of " celluloid," a 
material of extraordinary and valuable qualities, now 
rapidly taking the place of ivory and other expensive 
substances in many of the arts and industries of the 
country. Another use is thus found for a process of 
" vulcanizing." 

" Caoutchouc," or gum elastic, a product from the 
milky juices of tropical woods, for a long time useful 
only in erasing pencil marks, under the influence of 
heat, as employed in the art of "vulcanizing,'' com- 
bines in some inexplicable manner ' with a small por- 



41 

tion of sulphur, and forms what is known as " vul- 
canized rubber," a substance more elastic and less 
soluble than gum, which does not melt even at the 
boiling point of mercury, or become stiff in the cold, 
and which differs not only in color, but in all its essential 
properties from the original gum. Thus an almost use- 
less gum, by a slight chemical change, becomes a useful 
material so important in the industrial arts, that 
thousands of persons find employment in applying it 
to numberless purposes, and millions of dollars are 
annually realized from its production. 

The art of "vulcanizing" to whatever substances 
applied deals in a philosophical way with their chemical 
constituents and natural elements, changing the relation 
of particles which in one case may produce density, in 
another elasticity, strength and durability, and in some 
change of color. All these effects are produced, when 
the "Vulcanizing Process" is applied to wood, because 
of the peculiar elements and properties found in its fluids. 
The wood is developed in strength and beauty, is thor- 
oughly cured, primed, filled, knotted and prepared for 
use, and at the same time preserved from decay, by a 
chemical change produced in its fluid matter. 

The discovery of new elements in nature, and of new 
forces in chemistry or physics, whereby the same can 
be utilized, is the grandest achievement, the highest 
creation within the reach of human power. 

Bessemer, Goodyear and others, by their discoveries 
and the utilization of them in the treatment of iron and 
vegetable substances, have fully illustrated and exem- 
plified the remarkable effects produced, but give only a 
faint conception of the wonderful results achieved by 
the "Art of Vulcanizing Wood." The preservation 
of wood from decay alone will benefit the world more 



42 

than the combined products of all their great inven- 
tions. 

"Celluloid," and "Bubber" were entirely new sub- 
stances for which uses had to be discovered, and the 
scope and power of inventive genius have never been more 
clearly shown than in the 3000 patented applications of 
' ' Vulcanized Bubber. " 

The uses of wood and lumber in their crude and un- 
satisfactory form, already so great that inventive 
genius is taxed to find the means of doing without 
them, will only be increased, when, by "vulcanizing," 
they are thoroughly cured and prepared, and rendered 
more valuable for all purposes. 



'tShe bcmani) for u, l£$iilccMi&eb " IXSoob and 

-Slumber. 



According to the census of 1870 there were in the 
United States 63,938 establishments manufacturing arti- 
cles made entirely of wood, employing 393.387 persons, 
and using material worth $309,921,403 annually. There 
were 109,512 industries, such as carriage and furniture 
making, ship building, etc., employing 700,915 per- 
sons, and using material worth $488,530,844 annually. 
These incomplete estimates fall far short of embrac- 
ing the whole amount of wood and lumber used in this 
country, but they may give some conception of the 
billions upon billions of feet required by these 174,450 
establishments to give employment to 1,094,302 persons* 
When we consider, that all this wood and lumber must 
go through some sort of " seasoning, " much of it re- 
quiring from two to five years, and some a longer time, 
and that large stocks must be carried to keep up the 
supply, we may form some idea of the great loss of 
time, money and material which is thereby incurred. 

By "vulcanizing' 1 wood and lumber can, in a few 
hours, and at a cost of from 50 cents to $1 per thousand 
feet, be thoroughly cured and prepared for use, thus 
saving the loss of interest, taxes, insurance, etc., and 
the loss by shrinking, cracking, and warping of the 
material, consequent upon the tedious operation of 
" seasoning. 1 ' Besides, " vulcanized " wood or lumber 
is not liable to swell and shrink ; it is primed, filled. 



44 

knotted, and preserved from decay; it is tougher, 
stronger and more beautiful, and in every way and for 
all purposes superior to any "seasoned" wood or 
lumber. 

The vast amount of wood and lumber needed at this 
day could not be supplied with the old upright saw, nor 
could it be shaped, formed and fitted, as now required, 
with the hand plane, chisel, and mallet. These imple- 
ments are too slow. They are behind the age, and of 
necessity have been superseded by late inventions which 
do the work more rapidly. The processes of "season- 
ing " are too slow. They, also, are behind the age, and 
must of necessity be superseded by a late invention, 
which will put wood and lumber into better condition 
for use, and in a much shorter time. 

The inventions of gang-saws, of planing, tongaeing 
and grooving, and shingle machines are saving millions 
every year in the supply and working of wood and 
lumber, but the advantages of all of them combined 
will be more than realized from the discovery of the 
art of " vulcanizing wood. " We will call attention to 
some uses and a few branches of business in which this 
art will prove of the greatest benefit. 



55for all '2Jtailroad / l£?'uv%>o&e& 1 1X5 u learns ed 
IZ&oob and dumber needed. 



In the number and extent of our railways we surpass 
every nation upon earth. Our greatest achievements 
in railroad building were made when money was 
abundant, business active, and our whole people moved 
with a spirit of progress and speculation. All the con- 
tracts then made contained specifications requiring 
rapid work in making road-bed, in the laying of ties, and 
in the spiking down of rails. Permanence of structure, 
durability of material, and economy in expenditure 
were lost sight of in the effort to put bonds and stocks, 
and the road itself upon the rising market in the 
shortest possible time. 

The attention of railway manageis and builders was 
mainly given to constructing, perfecting and embellish- 
ing the rolling stock, and every improvement looking 
to such increase of speed, and such adornment and 
comfort of the cars as would invite the greatest public 
patronage was readily adopted. 

The strength and durability of the ties and rails 
seemed to be unworthy of consideration. Within a few 
years only, and under the pressure of hard times, 
has the steel rail been adopted from a necessity for 
economy. But there can be no wisdom in running ex- 
pensive ears and laying steel rails over ever decaying 
and ever changing lies. No rolling stock or rails 
ean he successfully operated without a solid road-bed, 
and a solid road-bed cannot be secured without a 
sufficient number of sound, substantial sleepers. 



46 

Common sense should teach us to look first to the 
grading, next to the ties, then to the rails, and finally 
to the rolling stock, thus building from the bottom up, 
instead of from the top down. 

The railroads of this country have cost $4,568,591,935. 
Even with our increased and increasing population and 
manufactures, with our vast mineral resources and 
wonderful agricultural products, it becomes a serious 
question whether the investment of such an enormous 
sum of money can be made to pay. It certainly cannot 
without economy in the expenses of running and 
repairing the roads. 

We have now 94,000,000 miles of railroad requiring 
in their construction 253,800,000 ties, the average life 
of which is about five years. One-fifth of the whole 
number, being 50,760,000, must therefore be annually 
replaced with new ties at a cost (including labor) of one 
dollar each. Thus, to repair the damage to ties from 
wear and tear, and from decay, our railway companies 
incur an annual expense of $50,760,000. 

This is a large sum of money, which if saved, instead 
of lost each year would greatly increase confidence in 
railroad investments. It can be saved by the use of 
" vulcanized " ties, which are preserved from decay 
and are so dense, hard and tough that they will not 
split, and will for a long time resist the wear and tear 
from the friction of the rails. 

The mere cost of replacing the old ties with new ones 
does not cover the loss incurred by railroads from 
defective ties. The disturbance of the road-bed attend- 
ing the removal of a tie works serious injury to the 
rolling stock. Split, worn and rotten ties also cause an 
oscillating motion of the cars which sometimes throws 



47 

them from the track, or occasions a sudden and un- 
equal pressure, by which the rails are broken. The 
uneven surface presented by a rotten tie, or a disturbed 
road-bed, produces increased friction, and an undue 
strain upon the axles and flanges of the wheels, which 
often result in disaster, and when a process has been 
found by which ties can be preserved from decay, and 
much injury to rolling stock, and many accidents be 
prevented, it would seem to be the duty of railroad 
directors to adopt such a discovery, especially when 
the public safety demands it. 

Its adoption moreover is dictated by good business 
sense, as a measure of practical economy and prudent 
foresight. 

To supply the 94,000 miles of completed railroads 
with 253,800,000 sleepers, cut from selected trees of a 
size sufficient to make only one or two, has destroyed 
the choice young growing timber of thousands upon 
thousands of acres of the finest woodlands along their 
lines. The requirement of 50,000,000 of ties, for repairs, 
will consume annually thirty years growth on near 
LOO, 000 acres of the best woodland. 

With this constant and exhausting drain upon the 
forests, so rapidly disappearing from other causes, 
sleepers must become scarcer and dearer year after 
year, until at no distant day it will become a question of 
serious moment where the ties needed for our railroads 
can be obtained al any price. 

Years ago this question was forced upon England 
and oilier European countries by the great and increas- 
ing scarcity <>l limber, and the result was the adoption 

of methods of preserving sleepers from decay. It ; was 
shown by practical tests that such timber could be pre 



48 

served by the " Burnettizing," " Kyanizing," "creosot- 
ing," and other processes, 

The "creosoting" process, first employed in 1838, 
has grown rapidly in favor with experience, until at 
the present day it is in use on nearly all the railroads 
of Europe, and is recommended by the most eminent 
engineers. 

" Creosoted" sleepers of Baltic, American, and Scotch 
fir, and of other kinds of wood were laid upon the 
"Stockton & Darlington," the " Lanchasire & York 
shire," the "Midland & Great Western" of Ireland, 
the "London & North Western," the "Dublin & 
Drogheda," the "Great Eastern," the "Dutch Ehin- 
ish," and upon the " Bristol & Exeter," in 1838, 1840, 
1842, 1844, and 1846, and we have the testimony of such 
eminent engineers and superintendents as Badge, 
Price, Hartly, Woodhouse, Dyer, Dawson, Freem, and 
Summerson, that they are perfectly sound and free 
from decay, 

At a meeting of the ' ' Institute of Civil Engineers, " Lon. 
don, Mr. Brunei has expressed the opinion that " Creo- 
soted " timber would last 40 years ; that ' ' Creosoted '> 
sleepers would out last sleepers of iron, and Mr. Hawk- 
shaw said, he had never known an instance of decay in 
creosoted ties even in the most unfavorable positions. 
We have the testimony of the " Building News" that, 
creosoted sleepers of American fir, placed on the fine 
from Manchester to Crewe in 1838, are still as sound 
as when first laid. 

"Creosoting" preserves sleepers from decay by the 
coagulation of the albumen of the sap. To do this the 
oil of Tar is forced into the timber. The oil is expensive, 
its introduction difficult, the machinery employed com- 



49 

plicated, the process elaborate, and tedious, and applica- 
ble only to sap wood, or soft, sappy kinds of woods. 

The cost of " creosoting " is from 35 to 40 cents per tie. 

" Vulcanizing" also, preserves sleepers from decay 
by the coagulation of the albumen of the sap. To do 
this the timber is subjected for a few hours to great heat 
and pressure. The machinery is simple, the process 
rapid and effectual, and is applicable to both sap and 
heart and woods of all kinds. 

Cost of " Vulcanizing" only one or two cents per tie. 

Eegardless of the expense of treatment, the railway 
managers of Europe are not so unwise as to put steel 
rails upon perishable sleepers. When the cheapness 
and durability of " vulcanized sleepers " is understood, 
the railway managers of America will not be so unwise 
as to put steel, or even iron rails, upon any except pre- 
served sleepers. 

There are in this country about 150,000 miles of 
railway fences, and the annual expense of repairing 
them amounts to from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000. This 
is another large sum of money which can be saved by 
the use of " vulcanized " wood and lumber. 

It is estimated that the value of the wood and lum- 
ber employed by the railways of the United States in 
the erection of passenger and freight stations, plat- 
forms and buildings is $77,692,000; of engine, car, and 
store houses $17,922,214, and of bridges $85,034,288. 

We have no means of arriving at the annual cost of 
repairs occasioned by the rotting which takes place in 
this vast amount of untreated wood and lumber, but it 
must necessarily reach an enormous sum. 

Again, there were in the United States in 1879, 12,009 
passenger cars, 4519 baggage, mail and express cars 
4 



50 

and 480,190 freight cars, and the value of the wood and 
lumber employed in their construction is estimated at 
$135,620,960. 

The rotting of car wood- work, (especially of freight 
cars, always exposed to the weather) necessitates an 
annual expenditure of nearly $16,000,000 

Even the sleeping and drawing-room cars, which are 
so beautiful in design, of such exquisite finish, and 
which contribute so much to our pleasure and comfort, 
are built of wood liable to decay, and they need repair- 
ing after running only three years and a half. ■ 

In 1878 there were over fifty of these elegant cars 
overhauled at one establishment. They presented a 
perfectly sound appearance, but when the well-painted, 
varnished and gilded outside covering was removed, 
there was a rottenness of sills and uprights, between the 
inner and outer casements, which would have appalled 
the most experienced railroad traveler. 

Why incur this expense and trouble of repairs, when 
by " vulcanizing" the rotting of all wood and lumber 
can be so easily prevented ( 

If it were generally known that by "vulcanizing/' 
wood and lumber could, in a few hours, at $1 pr. thou- 
sand, and not over two cents pr. tie, be developed in 
toughness, strength and beauty thoroughly cured and 
prepared for use, and at the same time be preserved 
from decay, the stockholders of all our railways would 
to-day, by a unanimous vote, declare, that, hereafter 
in building and repairing cars, fences, station houses, 
depot buildings, and platforms, bridges, etc., no timber, 
no wood or lumber, no ties should be used without 
being "vulcanized." 



r 2&iilcar\izeb QS00& anu dumber fhe mosf 
suitable for buildings. 



It is said that there are in this country 30,000.0' "»0 of 
people living in houses made chiefly of wood. In 1870, 
there were in the United States 2, 659, 985 farms on which 
dwellings, stables, barns, and other out-buildings are 
for the most part built entirely of wood. The census 
of 1870 places the number of dwellings in the whole 
country at 7,042,833, and wood and lumber enter largely 
into the construction of all not built entirely of that 
material. The same is true of the many public build- 
ings, churches, educational and charitable institutions, 
stores, manufactories, warehouses, etc., not enumerated 
in the census. All the wood and lumber employed 
in these buildings, is liable to destruction from either 
dry-rot, or wet-rot, by which not only the materials 
perish, but the labor expended in fashioning and fitting 
is lost. Joists enclosed between floors and plastered 
ceilings, in the juncture of different woods put end 
to end, over and under cellars, or fitted into new 
walls, are all liable to decay. Bond timbers, wall 
plates, ends of girders, joists and lintels frequently rot 
from contact with lime and damp brick work. In every 
situation admitting moisture untreated wood will rot. 
In stables, wash houses, etc. , even where air circulates 
freely, a warm moist atmosphere is an active cause of 
decay. 



In warm cellars, and in all confined situations where 
the air is filled with vapor, without a current to 
change it. dry-rot proceeds with wonderful rapidity. 
The germs of fungi, producing dry-rot, are easily 
carried in all directions through a building in which 
this evil makes its appearance, and before it has time 
to destroy the principal timbers, germs penetrate behind 
the skirtings, dadoes, wainscotings, and mouldings, 
drawing in the edges of the boards, and causing them to 
split horizontally and vertically. The floors of kitchens 
and basements, floors beneath parquet work, or cov- 
ered with painted oil cloth, or Kamptullicon, and all 
coverings of shingles or boards rot very rapidily. 

In roofs ceiled below and slated above nearly all 
the timbers have been known to be destroyed by dry- 
rot in a few months. 

No reliable estimate can be made of the loss incurred 
by the constant decay of wood in buildings, and no 
basis for even an approximation of the amount could 
be obtained, except from the testimony of the 500,000 
carpenters engaged in building and repairing the houses 
of this country. 

Exposure to rain, contact with the ground, or the in- 
fluncp of warm, damp, stagnant air in confined situa- 
tions will produce fermentation and decay in wood and 
lumber however well it may have been " seasoned. " 
Under conditions and in situations favorable to. decay, 
the decomposition of the best "seasoned" wood will 
only be delayed until there has been time for the absorp- 
tion of a sufficient amount of moisture. 

Protection against the destruction of the wood work 
of buildings is sought in the use of oil and paint, but 
they cannot be relied upon. Very often, while going- 
through the process of "seasoning.'' the germinative 



58 

principle of the vegetable juices of wood and lumber 
will be brought into activity which is not discoverable 
by any external manifestation, and in spite of oil and 
paint, this incipient decay will progress until complete 
destruction of the material is accomplished. Very often 
the coatings of paint cut off all chance of exhalation, 
and deprive the wood of the beneficial influences of 
contact with the air, while moisture, with its insidious 
and baleful results, is allowed to pass through without 
interruption. 

The destruction of the sills and sashes of windows, 
under frequent renewals of paint, shows the almost ir- 
resistible power of heat and moisture in producing vege 
table putrefaction and decay in wood. 

Another great injury to which buildings are liable is 
occasioned by the swelling and shrinking, the cracking 
and warping of wood- work. In the heating of houses 
by furnaces or otherwise, the doors, sashes, and shut- 
ters shrink from their facings and fastenings. Panels 
recede from the grooves into which they are fitted 
exposing on each side wood never touched with 
painty or varnish. The beautiful effect of expensive 
ornamental figures and carvings in wood employed 
in decoration is often destroyed by the warping and 
cracking consequent upon shrinkage. The shrinking 
of joists and laths frequently occasions the falling of 
plaster from ceilings which is always attended with ex- 
pense, trouble and inconvenience, and danger to life. 
In shrunken floors, wainscotings, mouldings, archi- 
traves, etc., are presented unsightly openings which 
furnish harbors for dirt and vermin, for moisture and 
fungi. This change of shape and form will take place in 
the best wood and Lumber however well ''seasoned." 
and neither oil, paint, nor varnish will prevent it, 



54 

Against this incalculable loss by rotting and wide 
spread damage from swelling and shrinking, the only 
security is to be found in the use of ' i Vulcanized " wood 
and lumber. 

Any kind of wood- work, whether plain or ornamental, 
of "Vulcanized" material, will stand in all situations, 
and under all conditions. The juices of wood and lumber 
are by " vulcanizing, " thoroughly cured, their germina- 
tive principle is destroyed, and exposure to heat and 
moisture, however prolonged, will not produce in them 
vegetation, fermentation, putrefaction, or decay ' ' Vul- 
canized ' wood or lumber is preserved and needs no 
protection from paint and oil. It is also primed, filled, 
knotted and at once made ready and fit for all uses 
and purposes, and is not only better in all respects than 
; ' seasoned " wood or lumber, but far cheaper; and 
while meeting all the practical requirements for eco- 
nomical and substantial building, it has other merits 
which entitle it at the present day to precedence over 
all other kinds of wood or lumber. 

Of the many and important improvements in the 
practical arts, which have distinguished the last twenty- 
five years of progress, the most noticeable are to be 
found in architectural structures. The skill and genius 
of the architect, employed hitherto with such marked 
effect upon the exterior construction of the dwellings 
and public buildings that our great metropolis is made 
to appear in the eyes of foreigners like a city of palaces, 
have lately been directed to the interior finish and 
decoration. 

Special attention is now given to the wood-work of 
fine houses, and by architectural ingenuity and refined 
taste woods of various kinds are combined in styles of 



55 

finish and ornamentation of exquisite beauty and ele- 
gance, and their use in all interior fittings and decora- 
tions has become a ruling fashion . We enter the modern 
city residence through a door of richly colored, substan- 
tial wood, highly ornamented and polished. We find the 
halls wainscoted throughout with wood ; we find mar- 
quetry floors of curiously grained woods of an infinite 
variety of patterns, Elizabethan staircases with panels, 
rails and posts of elegant kinds of wood, open fireplaces 
supplied with beautifully wrought mantelpieces of wood, 
surmounted with statues carved in wood, and support- 
ing elaborate cornices of wood ; and chambers finished 
in different kinds of light or dark colored wood. 

In the ornamentation, embellishment and finish of 
the interior, the woods are employed in such manner as 
to display with the greatest effect- their natural beauties 
utterly ignoring the old, absurd custom of disguising 
them with paint. To give greater distinction to the 
decorative ait, and gratify tastes grown extravagant 
with prosperity, imported woods of rare and expensive 
kinds are extensively used. 

This fashionable style of natural wood finish is being- 
adopted also in building houses intended for offices and 
other business purposes, and by combining economy 
with beauty and elegance it becomes a valuable im- 
provement. Very often in growing cities the re- 
modelling of the interior structure of buildings becomes 
necessary, and it is of great importance that alterations 
and adaptations to any desired arrangement should be 
made with facility and without marring the beauty, or 
affecting the durability of the building, which cannot 
be done when its walls and ceilings have been covered 
with plaster. 



56 

It will not be long before this fashionable and sensible 
wood finish style will find its way into the suburban 
and village residences, and into the millions of farm 
-houses. 

What a field is thus opened for the wonderful * * art 
of vulcanizing wood and lumber ! " An art by which, 
at little expense, and in a few hours, the rare and 
precious woods can be wonderfully improved in quality 
and appearance, the cheapest and commonest woods 
be made beautiful enough for decorative purposes, and 
all kinds be thoroughly cured and prepared for use. and 
so increased in density, firmness and uniformity of 
structure, that their natural beauties of grain and color 
can be brought out by finish and polish with the most 
pleasing effect. 

There are 120 different species of trees which grow in 
this country to a height of over 50 feet. From the re- 
markable effect of ' * vulcanizing " upon pitch pine, white 
pine, spruce, hemlock, poplar, walnut, hickory, oak, 
beech, birch, bast, cherry, and even upon sycamore, 
cotton wood and gum. we have reason to believe that- 
many other kinds of our native woods will be developed 
by this art, until we shall have building material for 
useful and ornamental purposes in such infinite variety, 
that in all interior finishing fights and shades can be 
blended, and colors combined in harmony to suit the 
most delicate taste and gratify the hvelist fancy. 

Xote. "In the Imperial Palace at Berlin one or two of the Emperor's 
private rooms are fitted up with pine ; the doors, windows, shutters and 
everything else of fir wood; these are cheap woods but of great natural 
beauty when polished. 

"Xote. " The offices of Herr Krauss (Architect to the Prince and 
Princess Louis of Hesse^ who resides in Mayence, are fitted, or raiher the 
walls and ceilings are lined with pitch pine wood, parts of which are 
carved, and the whole French polished, and the effect is very fine.'* 



5? 

Note. " The reception room, where the Emperor of GermaDy usually 
transacts business with his ministers, and receives deputations., etc., as 
well as the adjoining cabinets, are fitted with pine, not grained and 
painted, but well French polished." 

Note. " The polished pine composing the interior wood-work in the 
house of the late Sir Anthony Carlisle, in Langham Place, London, is 
very like satin wood." 



[From the "News."] 
BEAUTIFUL WOODS IN ARCHITECTURE. 



Since the days of Solomon, when "temples" and "dwellings" of 
"hewn stone" were finished with firs and cedars from the forests of 
Lebanon, there has never been such an extensive use of timber in the 
embellishment and adornment of altars and firesides as at the present 
time. The interiors of churches, public buildings and private residences 
are now finished with natural woods in every style of beauty and elegance 
known to the decorative art. 

To satisfy the extravagaut tastes of this extravagant age, rare and 
expensive imported woods, such as are known in commerce as "precious 
woods," are so largely employed for these purposes, that the demand for 
them in this and other countries has become simply enormous. When 
we consider that tiiese high priced woods can be found only within a 
tropical belt of very limited area, and the extent to which they are used 
not only in fitting and finishing the houses of all countries, but also 
the steamers and steamboats of the oceans, lakes and rivers, as well as 
the railroad cars, musical instruments, etc., we can easily forecast a time 
when the supply will not be equal to the demand. 

This emergency has already been anticipated ami provided tor by the 
ingenuity of an American inventor, who has discovered a method of 
"vulcanizing" wood and lumber, whereby the commonest and cheapest 
of our native woods can be made as beautiful and elegant in appearance 
as susceptible to high finish ami ornamentation, and as useful ami effective 
for all architectural ami decorative purposes as the finest imported woods. 
We have seen specimens of ordinary "pitch pine'' which, after 
receiving this treatment, were as handsome in rich and variegated colors 



58 

as the most costly South American woods, and also specimens of '" vul- 
canized " white pine and spruce which presented the soft, lustrous appear- 
ance of the finest satin wood. It is said that i; vulcanizing" gives solidity. 
toughness, strength and durability to wood, and also preserves it from 
decay. It certainly makes a wonderful improvement in the grain, coloring, 
and appearance of all kinds of wood, and the discovery of the art is a 
great triumph for America. 



® onserioafories. 



All wood used in the construction and internal fit- 
tings and arrangements of conservatories is liable to 
very rapid decay. The heat and moisture, necessary to 
the germination of the seed and the progress of vegeta- 
tion in the production of the branches, leaves and 
flowers of the plants, is constantly supplied to such 
houses by artificial means. 

The pores of green wood or lumber are filled with 
juices which, in their natural state, contain the power 
of vegetation, the principle of life, which is not extin- 
guished by the process of "seasoning," but remains in 
a dormant, quiescent condition so long as the wood or 
lumber is kept perfectly dry. Under the influence of 
moisture, however, when aided by heat, this power of 
vegetation is brought into exercise; this "Vis Vita? " is 
brought into activity, producing intestinal motion, fer- 
mentation, and decomposition of the wood. Thus the 
same amount of heat and moisture necessary to the 
rapid propagation and growth of plants will produce 
the germinative life, or vegetation in the juices of wood 
necessary to its rapid fermentation and decomposition. 

In the pi'ocess of ' ' vulcanizing " this power of vege- 
tation found in the wood is destroyed by the great heat 
employed, just as the vitality of seed is destroyed by 
baking. 



60 

In greenhouses employed in the propagation of exotic 
plants, the stagnant air is so filled with moisture, and 
kept at such a temperature that all wood-work within 
its reach is subjected to an absorbing power of 100 
degrees. Any kind of wood, in its natural state, how- 
ever carefully seasoned or painted, when placed in such 
an atmosphere, will become thoroughly saturated with 
moisture and remain in that condition until it is de- 
stroyed by fermentation and decay. 

A short time ago the thought occurred to a scientific 
gentleman, who had faith in this process, of placing 
some pieces of '"vulcanized wood" in a house of this 
kind in order to see how they would be affected by the 
heat and moisture. 

It would seem enough lo expect of wood, which has 
received a treatment of only a few hours, that it prove 
quite as good as wood which has had the benefit of 
years of preparation, but it was now proposed to subject 
" vulcanized wood " to a test which no other kinds of 
woods had ever been known to stand. 

Nevertheless, the specimens were furnished, and the 
results of the experiment are fully set forth in the 
following note to the gentleman at whose instance it 
was made : 

Dear Db. : 



I have now fully tested the six pieces of " vulcanized" woods, which 
you brought me, to ascertain what effect heat and moisture, and dry heat 
would have upon them. 

I first placed them in a room with orchids and other tropical plants, and 
at a point where they would come in contact with the greatest amount of 
heat and moisture, the temperature of the room ranging Irom 100" to 130° 
Fht. The samples thus exposed to an absorbing power of over 100°, for 
96 hours did not take up any moisture. 

All other woods, of various kinds, which in my w hole experience I 
have seen exposed to the heat and moisture, and stagnant air of such 



61 

propagating rooms, have readily absorbed moisture, and become saturated 
with it in 48 hours, and in all cases the result has been fermentation and 
rapid decay. 

I afterwards placed the six pieces of wood in the furnace room, where 
there is a great heat, and no moisture whatever, where they remained 
four days and four nights without any perceptible change. 

For about 24 hours or more the pieces were so close to the furnace, and 
the heat so great, that I had to remove them to prevent ignition. 

From the severe tests made with these "vulcanized" woods, I am 
satisfied that they are not only perfectly seasoned, but preserved from 
rot. 

For the purpose of identification, I have put my name upon each of the 
pieces of wood tested as above by me. 

F. GOLDRING, 

Botanist and gardener to 

E. CORNING, Esq. 
Albany, New York. 



Summer ^JJleaoirfe anb ISSaievxrxQ ISMaces, 



There are now in the vicinity of the cities of this 
country, especially of New York, a large number of 
summer resorts and watering places. Through these, 
aided by rapid transit facilities, a great change has been 
effected in all kinds of business. Its suspension during 
certain months is not so general as it was a few years 
ago. Dealers from all parts of the country now con- 
gregate in cities accommodated with these places of 
resort, and instead of spending the warm months in 
idleness, attend to business during the day, and enjoy 
the calm repose and pure air of the country, or the 
delightful breezes of the sea at night. 

Nearly all the improvements of these summer estab- 
lishments are constructed of wood, and should be of 
" vulcanized " wood. When we consider the wonderful 
rapidity with which wooden buildings covering acres 
of ground were erected on Coney Island, we can imagine 
what must have been the difficulty, if not impossibility, 
of getting a sufficient amount of wood and lumber at 
all fit for use prepared by the old " seasoning " pro- 
cesses. 

" Vulcanized " wood or lumber is in every way ad- 
mirably adapted to all such purposes, and can be supplied 
ready and fit for all uses as rapidly as demanded and at 
very small expense. " Vulcanized 51 wood or lumber 
does not absorb moisture and is a non-conductor of heat; 
hence houses built of it are cooler in summer and also 
dryer and warmer in winter. 



'SButl&in^ of .Ships. 



Under this head we include all ships, steamers, and 
boats of every size and description, whether employed 
in the navy, in the transportation of passengers and 
merchandize in our international commerce, or for the 
purposes of internal trade and communication. 

These vessels are built chiefly of wood. While three- 
fourths of all the products of the earth are inclosed in 
wood for their preservation and transportation, the vast 
commerce of the world is borne on sea and land in 
vehicles made of wood. The wood- work of all vessels is 
constantly exposed to alternations of heat and moisture, 
and liable to decay. The destruction occasioned by rot, 
and the loss annually incurred thereby would be sur- 
prising if it could be accurately stated. The rotting of the 
timbers and other wood-work to which they are subject, 
involves not only the loss of the vessels and all the 
labor bestowed on their construction, but also that of 
valuable cargoes and the lives of human beings. 

In the building of steamers, ships and boats the best 
and most expensive timber is used, and great pains are 
taken in its "seasoning," which generally requires from 
three to five yens, for the open air method adopted in 
the time of Noah, when ship building was in its infancy, 
is still in general use. 

The wood-work of vessels is nevertheless liable to 
destruction by decay. Under the influence of heat and 
moisture the germinating principle of the vegetable mat- 



64 

ter contained in wood is brought into life and activity, 
which will inevitably result in decomposition by dry- 
rot, or wet-rot. In timbers, which have remained some 
time in the dock-yard before they are converted into 
parts of a vessel, germination or vegetation may com- 
mence and not manifest itself externally, and the timbers 
may appear hard, firm and sound, but in situations 
and under influences which are numerous in ships, they 
w^ill in a short time be found covered with fungus, and 
in a state of rapid decay. Dry-rot once begun will pro- 
gress even in the dryest portions of the vessel, and 
under any amount of paint. And timbers which have 
been " seasoned " even to the very center, will become 
softened and decomposed by heat and moisture, and 
rottenness must ensue. The vegetable jucies are only 
dried by the ,k seasoning," and the germinating princi- 
ple still existing in them only remains dormant until 
by moisture these juices are dissolved and diluted, and 
vegetation brought into life and action. 

Immunity against rotting cannot be secured by the 
most careful selection, painting, or " seasoning " of the 
the wood and lumber of boats and vessels, hut it can 
be found in the use of " vulcanized " timbers, "vul- 
canized " wood and lumber. By "vulcanizing" the 
vegetable or fluid matters are retained, coagulated, and 
solidified in the wood and cannot be dissolved, di- 
luted and decomposed by heat and moisture. 

The great heat employed in * k vulcanizing " destroys 
the principle of vegetation, or germinative life of jucies 
in timber. 

We have already shown that by M charring," which 
is but another mode of * k vulcanizing,'' wood and lum- 
ber have been preserved from decay for centuries. 
The " Roval William/ ' one of the most remarkable 



65 

instances of durability that the British Navy has sup- 
plied, was built either wholly or in part of timbers that 
had been charred. This vessel was launched in 1714, 
never repaired until 1757, and when surveyed afloat in 
1785, it appeared that the thick stuff and plank em- 
ployed in her construction had been burnt instead of 
kiln-dried. See " Treatise on Dry-rot in Timber," by 
T. A. Britton, London, p. 99. 

It is a well known fact, that vast sums expended in 
our naval architecture are thrown away on account 
of the perishable nature of the materials employed. 
Before the late war some of the vessels intended 
for our navy decayed on the stocks, or were damaged 
by worms to such extent that it became necessary to 
replace many of the timbers before those structures 
were completed. It is also a lamentable fact, that, 
since the war, our monitors have rotted away in such 
manner that the mail must be removed, and the wood 
to which it has been attached entirely replaced. Oak, 
which is expensive is the only wood now employed 
for such purposes. ' ' Vulcanized pitch pine " is not only 
much cheaper than oak, but it is as strong and tough, 
and far better in many respects. It will not be' affected, 
in the slightest degree by corrosion in contact with the 
metallic sheathing, and the matting together of the 
fibres of the wood, in this treatment, renders it so dense 
and tough that the bolts, spikes and nails will not cause 
it to split. 

" Vulcanized pitch pine' being water-proof , and at 
the same time rot-proof and worm-proof, should, for the 
sake of economy and safety, be extensively employed 
in the wood-work of all bonis and vessels, and being of 
great strength, and practically a non-conductor of 
5 



$6 

electricity, it is the very best material for spars and 
masts. 

The great superiority of ''vulcanized" wood over all 
other kinds for the construction of fine houses, will be a 
sufficient commendation for its use in the interior finish, 
fitting and decoration of boats and vessels to which so 
much attention is now given. " Vulcanized " wood or 
lumber will stand without change the atmospheric alter- 
nations so frequent upon the water. Hence the wood- 
work, furniture, musical instruments, etc., of all Boats 
and Vessels should be made of material so prepared. 

Canal Boats, as ordinarily built, rot rapidly,' and 

also become badly water-logged. In this condition their 
carrying capacity is not only diminished, but all freight 
stored in them, especially grain, flour, etc., is liable to 
mildew and rot. 

These boats should all be built of " vulcanized " wood 

and lumber, which will not water-log, which will not rot, 

and which will need no paint either for ornament or 

protection. 

Note: The Royal William was not finally taken to pieces until 1813, 
after a service of nearly 100 years. 



SSfurnifure. 



All buildings, ships, steamers and boats must be 
supplied with furniture made almost entirely of wood, 
and all the wood used in its construction has now to 
pass through some process of "seasoning," however 
tedious, or expensive. 

The best, most substantial, beautiful, and expensive 
furniture is made of wood or lumber "seasoned" in 
the natural way, by subjecting it to the open air for 
from two to five years. An ample supply of lumber 
seasoned in this manner cannot be had without keeping 
large stocks on hand, and incurring the loss of interest, 
taxes, insurance, etc., consequent thereon, as well as the 
loss of material occasioned by shrinking, warping, 
rotting, etc, during the treatment. 

Greatly inferior and less substantial furniture can be 
made of lumber which has been " seasoned " by some 
artificial method requiring less time and expense, but 
accompanied nevertheless with much loss from shrink- 
ing, etc. 

The great trouble with furniture arises from the 
swelling and shrinking of the wood after it has been 
fitted and joined, and when made of kiln-dried wood it 
comes apart and breaks to pieces with the slightest use. 

Then again, it is necessary for all the "seasoned" 
wood of which it is now made to be tilled or sized with 
some material, that it may have a smooth surface, resist 
moisture, and insure a permanent polish. Divers 



68 

materials, such as beeswax, copal, starch, pumice stone, 
plaster of paris, and various gums have been used, but 
have proved ineffectual. They absorbed the varnish 
used for polishing, shrank, rolled out, and discolored the 
wood. Marl, clay, flour, chalk, and various forms of 
infusorial silicates have been used for filling the grain, 
with more or less success. It is claimed that finely 
powdered flint and quartz mixed with oil forms a non- 
absorbent, transparent substance which fills the pores 
of the wood, and makes a hard, permanent glossy sur- 
face, requiring fewer coats of varnish in polishing. 

It may not prove uninteresting to notice here the 
further handling required by the " seasoned" wood and 
lumber when used in making furniture. 

The process of finishing ordinary cabinet work, very 
generally adopted, is as follows: give the wood a heavy 
coat of oil, and let dry for a week, or more; then sand- 
paper it with boiled linseed oil until the gum of the oil, 
the fibre of the wood, and the sand from the paper pro- 
duce a sort of gummy paste, which in the process of 
time and with much rubbing will lodge in the open 
pores of the wood, and form a tolerable filling for the 
grain. Some time is required for the gummy substance 
to dry thoroughly before the varnish is put on. 

The finer quality of work, subjected to what is 
termed hand-polish finish, requires from three to five 
coats of what is known as scraping-varnish, each coat, 
as soon as dry, being scraped off, leaving none of the 
varnish upon the work except that which adheres to the 
grain below the surface. After this, from three to five 
coats of polishing varnish are applied, and the work 
rubbed with pumice stone and water, and polished with 
rotten stone and the open hand. 

Many imported and expensive woods, such as ma- 



69 

hogany, are extensively used in the manufacture of 
furniture, and these need to be kept a very long time, 
not only to ''season" them, but to develop the rich- 
ness of their coloring. 

Through the ' ' Vulcanizing Process " lumber well 
cured and prepared for use can be furnished as rapidly 
as needed from small stocks, and without the loss of 
time and money incurred in the various processes of 
seasoning now employed. 

"Vulcanized Lumber" with its cemented fibres, uni- 
formity of surface, and smoothness of grain can be so 
highly finished, so nicely shaped and fitted, and so 
neatly and firmly joined, that the artizan will find great 
pleasure in the beauty of his work, and infinite satis- 
faction in knowing that it will stand. The doors of 
wardrobes, and the drawers of tables and bureaus can 
be fitted closely and yet open and shut at all times 
without difficulty. 

In " Vulcanized Lumber " the pores are closed, and 
the surface of the grain is made smooth with the solidi- 
fied fluid matter of the wood, which is the most natural 
and best filling, so that it readily takes glue, and will 
receive a beautiful and lasting polish without elaborate 
and expensive preparation. 

" Vulcanizing " also brings out the grain and coloring, 
and develops all the natural beauties of the various 
woods. The dark rich appearance given to mahogany 
and other expensive woods by age is produced by " Vul- 
canizing " in a few hours. It .would be difficult to 
estimate the many benefits which the 5( >,000 cabinet 
makers of this country will derive from the discovery 
of the art of " Vulcanizing" wood. 



ISHanos and other QJTHustcal 3*TTefrifmenfe. 



The manufacture of pianos has become one of the 
important industries now growing so rapidly with 
the growth of our country. A large amount of the 
very best kinds of lumber is required in this business. 
Piano cases must be made of sound, strong, substantial 
wood, and should be finished in the most attractive styles 
with woods of the greatest beauty and highest suscep- 
tibility of polish and ornamentation. 

Manufacturers keep large stocks on hand for many 
years from which they select lumber for these purposes 
with great care, and then subject it to some artificial 
process to make sure of its thorough "seasoning.'' 
The wood-work is all fitted and joined with the greatest 
exactness and finished with the most artistic skill. 

Unfortunately the wood and lumber however well 
"seasoned," carefully selected, and skillfully joined and 
ornamented, cannot withstand atmospheric changes. 
The cases made of them are seriously affected under 
the influences of heat and cold, wet and dry, as will be 
shown in the swelling and shrinking, warping and 
cracking of the wood. The absorption of moisture by 
the wood of which any musical instrument is made 
destroys all strength and brilliancy of tone. 

"Vulcanized Wood" will not absorb moisture, swell 
or shrink, crack or warp like wood which has been 
subjected to years of seasoning whether natural or arti- 
ficial. It is stronger and more durable, better cured and 



n 

prepared for use, more easily shaped, fitted and joined, 
is more beautiful, and capable of a finer polish and 
higher ornamentation, and it is also far more resonant, 
and in all essentials superior to any merely "seasoned" 
wood for the construction of pianos, organs, or any other 
kinds of musical instruments. 



S^arm 2^mplemenfs ant) QUI a chin er^. 



In 1870 the value of all the farming implements and 
machinery of this country was estimated at 8336,878,429. 
The materials of which they are made consist chiefly 
of wood. In the construction of some of the most im- 
portant implements such as reapers, ploughs, etc., the 
very best of "seasoned'' wood is now employed. To 
provide themselves with what is called the " best of 
seasoned material,'' manufacturers purchase large 
stocks of green timber and keep it from three to four 
years to " season" it. 

By exposure to atmospheric changes and influences 
during this long and tedious process of seasoning, much 
of the large stocks of timber is rendered useless by 
warping and cracking, by powder post and by ordinary 
rot, and it is only of the best of what remains that the 
implements are generally made. The losses thus in 
curred are of course put upon the purchaser by the 
increased prices at which they are sold. On the farm 
they must be kept well painted and under cover when 
not in use, and even then they are liable to constant 
injury and destruction by the warping, cracking and 
rotting of the "seasoned" wood of which they are 
made. 

There are no means of ascertaining with any degree 
of accuracy the loss resulting from the decay of the 
wood-work of farming implements. Some idea of it 
may be formed from the fact, that there are 3,076 es- 
tablishments in the country with near 850,000,000 of 



73 

capital, which employ 35,249 hands in the manufacture 
of farm implements to supply the annual demand 

" Vulcanized " wood or lumber should be used in the 
manufacture of all farming implements and machinery. 
It is tough and strong, will not shrink, warp or crack, 
nor will it rot when exposed to the weather. Imple- 
ments of " Vulcanized " wood need no protection from 
paint, nor do they need shelter. 

If ' ' vulcanizing " could do no more than cure and pre- 
pare wood for use in the short period of a few hours, 
that alone should entitle it to be considered one of the 
greatest improvements of the age. 



The preservation of fencing materials is assuredly 
one of the most important uses to which the process of 
''Vulcanizing*' can be applied. Some years ago Jno. 
S. Skinner, while editing the " Plow, Loom and Anvil," 

after a very painstaking investigation of the subject, in 
a series of papers set forth his conclusion from all the 
information in his possession, that the setting and re- 
pairing of the fences of the United States cost as much 
as the building of the cities and towns. According to 
a report of the Agricultural Bureau made in IS 71. there 
were in this country 250,505,614 acres of land under 
fence: the total cost of the fencing was estimated at 
$1,747,549,931; and the annual expense of maintaining 
the fences (including interest an original cost I, amounted 
to $198,806,182. 

If the fences of the United States were preserved from 
destruction by rot. there would be a saving of $1,012,- 
000,000 ill the expense of repairs every ten years. 

The process of vulcanizing is effectual in preventing 
the decay of wood. It is simple and inexpensive and can 
be applied to fencing materials of all kinds. TTheu the 
farmer, at great expense of time, labor and money, 
surrounds his yard and garden with beautiful palings. 
and his orchards and fields with well arranged fences. 
he will find infinite satisfaction in the thought that 
these valuable improvements will in permanent form 
descend with the land as an inheritance for his children 
and his children's children. 



'2Buildin<3 of (Sarriagea arxb ISSaQon*. 



In the manufacture of carriages, etc., only the very 
hest selected and prepared material should ever be 
used. Fortunately for those who are able to indulge in 
such vehicles, the builders of them are for the most 
part remarkably well posted as to the strength, dura- 
bility, quality and condition of all the kinds of wood 
and lumber needed in their line of business. The 
carriage maker, however, like the cabinet maker, labors 
under the disadvantage of having to " season " all his 
material by a tedious, expensive and unsatisfactory 
process, and of taking it through an elaborate course of 
priming and filling as a preparation for its finish by 
varnishing and polishing. 

He is also under the necessity of carrying heavy 
stocks of wood and lumber, and during the many years 
required for seasoning incurs loss by shrinking, crack- 
ing, warping and rotting, and in addition thereto a 
considerable loss by the destruction of certain kinds of 
timber for spokes, felloes, shafts, etc., by what is 
known as Powder Post. Of all the workers in wood 
none can more fully appreciate the " Vulcanizing 
Process " than the builders of carriages and wagons. 
To them, wood which is perfectly cured and thoroughly 
prepared for use, villi smoothly laid (/rain and well 
filled pores, which is tough and firm and full of life and 
strength needs no commendation. 

NOTE. The builders of carriages and wagons use a large amount of 
"second growth" timber, and they lose heavily every year by its de< 



76 

struction from " Powder Post." In " Powder Post," sometimes described 
aa" Insect or Animal Rot," the wood is converted into powder by the 
ravages of a worm, with which it is infested. It is supposed that this 
worm is produced from eggs deposited in the green sappy wood by a fly. 
" Vulcanizing" will prevent " Powder Post." The great heat uaed in this 
process will destroy the germinative principle of the eggs and no worms will 
ever be produced. 



"©he fitness of a ZSulcanixeb HBoob " for 

telegraph anb telephone poles, cross 

pieces, anD underground bo;xes. 



In an interview lately published in the "New York 
Herald, " Mr. Jay Gould is represented as saying that 
"the western union telegraph company has over one 
hundred thousand miles of poles constantly rotting, and 
being replaced. ' This is by no means an over state- 
ment. 

The various telegraph and telephone lines of the whole 
country embrace about 162,364 miles, and employ 6, 494, 
560 poles which last on an average about ten years. 
The number of new poles annually required therefore 
for the replacement of the old ones is 649,456. The cost 
of these (including transportation, the labor of taking 
down the old, and putting up the new poles, and the 
readjustment of the wires ) estimated at $5.00 each, 
amounts to $3,247,280. 

This large annual loss can be saved by the use of poles 
which have been subjected to the "process of vulcaniz- 
ing. ' : By this simple treatment they will be preserved 
from decay, and also made tougher and stronger, and 
at a very trifling expense. 

" Vulcanized pitch pine, " which will never rot and is 
as strong as oak, and practically a non-conductor of 
electricity, for poles, and brackets or cross pieces, and 
for the boxes employed in passing wires and cables under 
ground, will be found in all respects the very best wood 
ever used for such purposes. 



u l&ulcanizeb 'IZSoob " useful in 
'^Breweries. 



The brewing business now constitutes one of the most 
important industries of this country. The many vats, 
tubs, casks, barrels, kegs, pipes, troughs, etc., of the 
brewery are made of wood which is in constant contact 
with fermenting elements, and liable to rapid decom- 
position. 

"Vulcanized wood" should be used for these pur- 
poses, because it resists decay in all situations and 
under all influences. The expense now incurred in 
lining beer tanks, casks, etc., with coatings of pitch 
and rosin to prevent their destruction by rot can be saved 
by the use of " vulcanized " wood. If it be urged that 
the rosin thus employed for preserving the wood from 
decay, subserves the purpose of imparting some desir- 
able quality to the beer, "vulcanized pitch pine, " which 
is thoroughly filled with rosin, will be found suited in 
this and in all respects to the brewers uses. 

In one of the largest breweries in this country there 
is but one vat which remains perfectly sound, while all 
the others in spite of their linings of pitch and rosin 
are constantly rotting. The one sound vat was made 
of charred lumber taken from a burnt building. The 
great heat to which this wood was subjected produced 
a change in its nature, destroyed the principle of vegi- 
tation in its fluid matter so that it resists the effects of 
fermentation, illustrating to some extent the great value 
of the "vulcanizing process. " 



tyama$e io dumber during ^Shipment. 



Lumber is more or less affected by rot during trans- 
portation by water. The disease may be imparted by 
the vessel, but it is generally produced in the lumber 
itself under certain atmospheric influences, and few 
cargoes escape its ravages. 

The extent of damage from this cause depends upon 
the length of the voyage, the state of the weather, and 
the condition of the lumber when shipped. If it is 
shipped in a tolerably dry condition, the rot may show 
itself only in discolored spots here and there on the 
surface of the wood, accompanied perhaps with a slight 
growth of white fibers. But if shipped in a wet state, 
and if the voyage has been a long one, the whole surface 
of every piece of lumber will be found covered with a 
net work of small white fibers, and the boards often 
so matted together that they cannot be separated 
without force, and after quitting the vessel they will 
grow together again on the barges before being landed. 

This fungus growth is dry-rot in its incipient state, 
and some times penetrates to the depth of J of an inch. 
It is vegetation produced when the germinative princi- 
ple in the juices of the wood is brought into life and 
action by heat and moisture, and if not arrested it will 
soon greatly damage or utterly ruin all the lumber in 
which it makes its appearance. Careful scraping or 
sweeping of lumber thus affected and then piling it 
upon edge will only retard the progress of the disease. 
"Vulcanizing" will effectually cure it. kk Vulcanizing," 
by destroying the germinative principle existing in the 



80 

fluid matter of wood, will not only arrest, but prevent 
vegetation. Hence "Vulcanized Lumber," whether 
shipped in a dry or in a wet condition, will not be 
affected by rot during transportation, whatever may be 
the state of the weather, or the length of the voyage. 

We have the authority of a distinguished English architect for stating 
that no cargoes of lumber, whether in the log or in board, arrive in Eng- 
land from Canada, or from the United States, in a perfectly sound con- 
dition. 



1£}vid$e&, 12Sharpe$ axxb ISHere 



These are the most expensive works within the whole 
range of the Mechanic Arts, and to be permanent 
should be made of the most durable material. It is 
of great importance therefore that " Vulcanized " wood 
and lumber be employed in their construction. 

An enormous expense is incurred every year in the 
rebuilding and repairing of bridges in this country, 
rendered necessary by the rotting of the material of 
which they are constructed. In spite of careful watch- 
ing and repairing, the decay of a single timber is some- 
times attended with the most disastrous consequences 
involving great loss of life as well as of property. 

Bridges of "Vulcanized" wood will prove as strong, 
lasting and safe as those of iron, and can be built at 
much less cost. They will need no coverings, no sidings, 
no coatings of paint to protect them from the weather, 
because "Vulcanized" wood will not rot in any ex- 
posure. 

Bridges are sometimes constructed over water on 
piles, which are exposed to the ravages of the Teredo 
and other destructive worms which infest salt water 
especially in Southern latitudes. By the insidious 
attacks of these borers the strength of the largest pile 
timbers is frequently weakened and utterly destroyed 
in afp months, and before any damage is even sus 
pected. The piles, beams, railings and cross timbers 
employed in the construction of \\ harves, piers, etc., are 
also liable to rapid decay and to destruction by these 
worms. 

(5 



82 

"Vulcanized pitch pine" will not decay, and a test 
made of it, in Biloxi Bay on the Gulf coast, has demon- 
strated that worms will not bore into it. It is therefore 
the best timber not only for piles, but for all the pur- 
poses for which wood is required in harbor works. 

Note. According to Col. Berrien, the .Michigan Central R. Road Bridge, 
at Niles, was painted before seasoning, with " Ohio Are proof paint," form- 
ing a glazed surface. After five years it was so rotten as to require re- 
building. 

" Vulcanized" Umber would have needed no seasoning, and no painting. 

Note. A bridge on the Louisville and Nashville R. Boad, near Clarks- 
villc, Ten., gave way a few years after its construction. This was caused 
by dry rot in an important key post. 

Note. It is said that the " Teredo " will not go into wood which does not 
absorb water, and that it cannot digest rosin. Pitch pine when " vulcan- 
ized" is lull of rosin, and will not absorb water. 



^Slepcea arxb ^P^kee, 



The rich lands in the lower Mississippi Valley border- 
ing on the river, by a proper system of levees, will yield 
untold wealth to the individual proprietors, and to the 
nation. There are also swamp and overflowed lands 
in the American bottom opposite St. Louis, in the New 
Jersey swamps opposite New York, and in various por- 
tions of this great country which by being properly 
dyked and drained can be thoroughly reclaimed, and 
made immensely valuable 

The sugar and cotton lands of the South have been 
to a great extent utilized by the embankments or 
levees to prevent their overflow. These have been 
built, at great expense, of earth alone composed of 
sand and loam, and hence alluvial and unreliable. The 
neiv or green levee, not having settled and acquired 
solidity by cohesion, is often swept away by the first 
rise in the river. The old levee, which in time has 
become firm, is often perforated and honey combed 
by crawfish and muskrats at points where it is highest. 
and has the greatest service to perform. Experience 
has shown that wherever the water is allowed to pass 
an embankment, either through crawfish or inuskrat 
holes or by overflow, a crevasse is made and the whole 
country overflowed for miles. 

In this region stone might be employed to good pur- 
pose, but it cannot be had. Neither stone, gravel, nor 
coarse sand is found on the alluvial banks of the lower 
Mississippi. Although along the whole valley timber 



84 

of various kinds is abundant, there has not been any 
application of wood to levee purposes, nor has attention 
been directed to any well digested plan for its use. 
Within a few years, however, a patent has been granted 
for a method of combining wood with earth in the con- 
struction of dykes and levees. The inventor proposes 
that planks about nine inches wide, from two to three 
inches thick, and of the requisite length, with concave 
and convex edges, and wedge shaped at one end, be 
fitted into each other, and placed in a row between two 
pieces of timber so joined together as to admit the 
planks and serve as a guide for them ; that the planks 
thus arranged between the timbers, be held together at 
top by a movable cap, and driven by machinery to the 
required depth : that the boards shall then be fastened 
together b} T a latteral brace, and dirt thrown up against 
them from the inside. A levee constructed in this 
manner will not be liable to the inroads of rats and craw- 
fish, and in case of overflow, the water will fall over it 
as it does over a mill-dam, and crevasses will not be 
formed by the washing away of dirt. 

He proposes to use wood in the same manner in 
making dykes for the reclamation of swamp and over- 
flowed lands. 

When the planks, jointed as above explained, are 
driven down in sections, and the water pumped out 
from the land to be drained, the loam is to be thrown 
up against the wooden barrier from the inside, so that 
no overflow or seeping from ocean or river will again 
interfere with the cultivation of the territory thus pro- 
tected. 

These suggestions are admirable, but are based of 
course upon the idea that the wood used for these pur- 
poses shall he preserved from decay. 



85 

"Vulcanizing" is a simple and cheap method by 
which wood for all purposes can be effectually preserved 
from decay, and hereafter in the construction of dykes 
and levees, works of such importance that they have 
become national in their character, the use of the " vul- 
canizing process " will be found of inestimable value. 

Persons of great experience in building such works, 
have expressed the opinion that by the combination of 
timber with earth as proposed above, levees more lasting 
and more effective than those of earth alone, can be built 
for one-half their cost. 



(Saske, '38arrels, etc. 



We annually require millions of casks, barrels and 
kegs, and a vast amount of timber is employed in their 
manufacture. A large proportion of the packages in- 
tended for transportation, both in our domestic trade 
and in foreign commerce, are put up in this form. The 
contents of such packages probably represent more 
than one-fourth of the market value of the elements 
that enter into the commerce of the world. The 
certain exposure of such packages to all the changes of 
temperature and degrees of moisture results in an in- 
calculable waste of valuable merchandise. Hence 
barrels of all sizes, and for all purposes should be very 
carefully made and of the best material. The wood 
employed in their manufacture should be so prepared 
as to resist effectu ally the ordinary action of the ele- 
ments. 

Coopers understand this fully, but they have great 
trouble in preparing their timber by the old method of 
" seasoning." They are compelled to employ capital 
at a loss of interest in keeping large stocks of raw ma- 
terial on hand, much of which is rendered unfit for use 
and destroyed by rot and worms during the time re- 
quired in "seasoning." 

By the ' ' Process of Vulcanizing " all their stave and 
hoop timber can, in a few hours and at very small ex- 
pense, be thoroughly cured and prepared for use and 
made to serve its purposes far better than any merely 
" seasoned" stuff. 



'^Burial ®aee$, 



The desire to preserve the remains of the dead has 
led to the extensive nse of metallic caskets. These are 
not only expensive, but inconveniently heavy and liable 
to corrosion in contact with the earth. While they may 
last longer than coffins of ordinary wood, it is ques- 
tionable whether they will not be entirely destroyed by 
corrosion in 15 or 20 years time. 

" Vulcanized wood " will not rot, and is the cheapest, 
most lasting and most suitable material of which burial 
cases can be made. Caskets of ' ' vulcanized " pitch pine 
will not decay in centuries, and can be so finished and 
polished as to present as beautiful an appearance as 
those made of mahogany or rosewood. 

Ice-Houses and Refrigerators are now constructed 
with double casements filled with charcoal, saw-dust, 
plaster of paris and various other substances, and all 
the wood employed is liable to rapid decay. 

"Vulcanized wood " will not rot, and being a non- 
conductor of heat is admirably suited for ice-houses, 
ice-chests, etc. 

"Vulcanized pitch pine" is a perfect non-conductor 
of heat, and is at the same time susceptible of the 
highest finish and ornamentation. A refrigerator made 
of it will need no double casements, and can be given 
the beautiful appearance of the handsomest piece (^' 
furniture. 



(Sollteries anb other QJBines, 



In mines all the wood used in props, in horse, 
and engine ways, and in hoisting machinery decays 
in a very short time. A great saving can be made in 
the use of " vulcanized " wood for all these purposes, 
especially in the many gold and silver mines of the 
country located in regions where timber is scarce and 
purchasable only at very high prices. 

The mines on the Com stock Lode in Nevada use from 
40,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet of timber every year, in- 
volving the clearing of 3,500 acres of forest land. 

The cost of logs together with the expense of trans- 
portation is annually increasing as the supply becomes 
more limited. 

In the " South Durham," the "Tanfield Moor," the 
"Mickley" and other Collieries of Great Britain the 
props of untreated timber formerly used, had to be re- 
placed every six or nine months. Preserved timbers 
only are now employed in those mines, and the expense 
of replacement is saved. 



I&ulcarxi&eb rvoob superior to all other ma 
terial for the construction of pavemeni&. 



" No pavement which greatly increases the destruction 

of shoe, horse, vehicle, ease, comfort and convenience 

is economical, though it may cost nothing and last 
forever" 

"Many thousands of dollars worth of shoes, horses and 
vehicles can be worn out on a few thousand dollars 
worth of pavement. " 

In the construction of cities and towns, strips of land 
are left open to furnish light, a free circulation of air, 
and convenient ingress and egress for the adjacent 
houses. These streets are highways belonging to the 
public, and under the control of the inhabitants of 
the city or town to whose uses they have been dedicated. 
As public highways they should remain open, and 
should be improved in such manner and kept in such 
condition that they will supply the purest air, afford 
the greatest facilities^for the movement of people on 
foot, on horseback, or in vehicles, and the transporta- 
tion of freight, and best promote in every way the com- 
fort, ease, convenience and welfare of all for whose 
accomodation they are intended. 

It is all important therefore that they should be laid 
with the best pavement. 

The best pavement is one of such construction and 
material as will afford and maintain a smooth and even 
surface, and yet provide sure foothold for horse and 
man; such as will be firm and durable to resist the 



90 

action of iron shoes and tires, and yet not so hard and 
solid as to render resistance shocking and damaging to 
the feet of horses, and the wheels of vehicles, and 
by concussion produce a deafening and unendurable 
noise; such as will insure an even and steady pressure 
of the wagon, diminish the obstruction to wheels, 
render the draft of horses more effective ; such as can 
readily be kept clean, and be easy, comfortable, aud 
safe for walking, riding, driving, etc. 

When we consider the kind of pavements now gene- 
rally in use, and see their unfitness to subserve the 
purposes for which they were intended, it seems sur- 
prising that those who own, control, and use the streets 
of cities and towns should be so inconsiderate of their 
own interest and provide so poorly for their own wel- 
fare. 

The '" cobble stone," for a long time the most popular 
pavement and still in very general use, is perhaps the 
very worst pavement ever devised. A street laid 
with round, smooth, hard, flinty boulders could not fail 
to present the most uneven surface possible, and an 
endless succession of unyielding obstructions to travel 
whether it be on foot, on horseback, or in wagons. On 
such a pavement no proper resting place can be found 
for the foot of horse or man ; wheels, losing the benefit 
of their circular form, roll from stone to stone with a 
polygon motion, while vehicles are swerved and wrenched 
from side to side with a banging, battering, and clat- 
tering, which racks and distracts both team and driver. 
Dirt and filth readily accumulates between the stones, 
and at times seems to tone down to some extent the 
harsh surfaces 'pi this pavement, but. when with the 
sharp corners of hoes and shovels the dirt and filth 



91 

is picked and scraped from the angular crevices in 
which it has collected the former roughness is restored. 
This absurd "cobble stone pavement" seems a wicked 
device invented for the torture of man and beast, and 
the destruction of wagons and carriages. Unfortunately 
it costs but little and lasts a very long time. 

Stone is employed in other forms of pavement with 
somewhat better results. The "Belgian," for instance, 
is an improveaient upon the "cobble stone." Its 
general surface is more even, and it is in other respects 
less objectionable, but the blocks are unevenly cut, and 
when newly laid present irregular and prominent points, 
which in contact with the wheel throw the axle out of a 
straight line and produce a jarring motion. The rough 
surfaces of the blocks wear off in the course of time, and 
become so smooth that they no longer afford a proper 
foothold for horses. 

Next comes the " Euss pavement " by some considered 
an improvement on the "Belgian" which it is rapidly 
superseding, but they both fall far short of possessing 
the indispensable requisites of a good pavement. The 
"Russ," when laid with care has at first a tolerably 
flat surface, but the stones soon wear off at the edges, 
and become so rounded at the top that wheels roll over 
them as they do over the small poles with which the 
country " corduroy " roads are laid. Though more flat 
and even than the "cobble stone," this pavement fur- 
nishes poor foot-hold for horses and hundreds slip and 
fall on it daily. 

The "Russ" and the "Belgian" like the "cobble 
stone " are durable, but this is the only requisite of a 
good pavement which can possibly be claimed for 
them. The concussion between the wheels of vehicles, 
and tlx i stone or granite of which they are eon- 



92 

structed flattens the felloes and tires between the 
spokes, strains and breaks the tires, spokes, springs, 
and axles, starts and rattles the nuts, bolts and joints, 
and destroys the whole running gear in a short time. 
Concussion with their hard unyielding surfaces bruises 
the feet, ossifies the joints of horses and wears and 
jams the life out of them in few years time. The 
concussions between the feet of horses and the wheels 
of vehicles, and these pavements combined, produce an 
incessant thundering, deafening and almost insuffer- 
able noise, which late at night, early in the morning, 
and throughout the whole day interferes with conver- 
sation, hinders the transaction of business, destroys 
the comfort, disturbs the rest and exhausts the ner- 
vous energy of the sick and the well. 

The shoes of horses, and the tires of wheels are by 
attrition rapidly worn away on these pavements, and 
the stones become glazed with a metal polish , which 
even in dry weather renders them as difficult of foot- 
hold as if they were made of smooth, solid iron. 

In wet weather these pavements are covered with a 
peculiar kind of mud in the composition of which tri- 
turated stone and metal enter largely, and this not only 
adheres to vehicles, and takes off paint and varnish, but 
renders the sidewalks almost impassable, and the streets 
too slippery for people to cross or horses to travel with 
safety. 

Another form of pavement is much used in which 
stone is the only material employed. It is known as 
the " Macadam." This is in many respects a good pave- 
ment for pleasure travel in parks and suburban towns, 
where they can be watered constantly and never allowed 
to get out of repair. When first made it is but a con- 
tinuous bed of small stone presenting an infirm and 



93 

uncertain surface, which can be solidified and brought 
into shape and form for agreeable use only by the ham- 
mering and pulverizing effect of travel. This style of 
pavement is not adapted to the general use of cities. 
After it has been worn down to a firm and even surface 
the heavy traffic of the city grinds and pulverizes it into 
a fine powder, which in wet weather takes the form of 
a thin mud with which horses, harness, vehicles and 
people are bespattered, begrimed and soiled, and in dry 
weather rises and fills the air with clouds of suffocating 
dust injurious to health, ruinous to dry goods, clothing, 
and furniture, rendering life even in luxurious homes 
almost intolerable. 

A pavement properly constructed of "compressed 
asphalt " is in many respects a very good one. Being 
inpenetrable by the moisture of the earth beneath, it is 
always very dry and dust forms upon it rapidly. The 
cost of construction, the necessity for constant and 
careful repairs, its applicability only to streets on levels, 
the difficulty which the horse finds in maintaining his 
footing upon its hard, smooth surface, constitute the 
greatest objections to it. 

The "wooden block pavement" was introduced in this 
country some years ago, and adopted very generally in 
the eastern and western cities. In localities where wood 
is cheap and stone scarce it is still extensively used. 
This pavement w r as found to be smooth, even, quiet, 
clean, elastic, and more agreeable to man, and less in- 
jurious to horses and vehicles than any pavement of 
hard, solid, unyielding stone or granite, and to have all 
the indispensable qualities of a first rate pavement^ 
except that of durability. It can be demonstrated that 
this want of durability wasdueto the imperfect manner 
in which it was constiucted, and that wooden blocks. 



94 

properly prepared, are the very best paving material 
that can be found. 

The easy, comfortable, safe and delightful travel 
afforded by "wood pavement" when first laid created 
a popular furor in its favor. Such was the rage for it, 
and so rapidly was it petitioned for, regardless of cost, 
that contracts for its construction became the subject 
of speculation. Contractors taking advantage of the 
popular feeling secured through ' ' ring rulers " the lay- 
ing of large areas of cities, and rushed the work through 
as soon as possible to be ready for another "job." The 
material generally employed was wholly unfit for use, 
and the pavement was constructed in the most careless 
and unworkmanlike manner. On an infirm bed of sand 
were crowded together in rows, and side by side, blocks 
of wet, green, soft, sappy pine wood, often in a state of 
incipient decay. Between these rows were left spaces 
of an inch or more so imperfectly filled with gravel 
and tar, that the water passing through them would 
wash away the sand foundation, then under the pres- 
sure of the wheels the superstructure subsided, causing 
small depressions, which grew larger until all evenness 
of surface was destroyed, and the decay of the blocks of 
such perishable wood was hastened by the accumula- 
tions of water and filth. The interposition of boards 
of a like perishable nature, between the sand and the 
blocks only delayed these results until the boards, had 
time to rot. The practice of tarring proved but a 
delusive device, which insured the more rapid rotting 
of the blocks and boards. The coating of tar by closing 
the cells, and preventing all escape of moisture, only in- 
duced and hastened fermentation, which at once de- 
stroyed all strength of fibre in the wood, and resulted 






95 

in the rapid wearing away of the blocks by disintegration, 
or their total destruction by decomposition. 

Thus constructed, and of such perishable material, 
it is not surprising that wood pavements did not prove 
as durable as was desired. When we consider the 
vast amount of traffic drawn from other thoroughfares 
to streets laid with these inviting pavements the wonder 
is that they did not wear out sooner. Under all these 
disadvantages, however, they lasted long enough to 
effect a saving in the wear and tear of horses and vehicles 
of a sufficient amount of money to cover many times 
their cost of construction. 

"Wood pavements" when first introduced into Eng- 
land did not prove quite successful. When by compe- 
tent engineers they were constructed after an improved 
method, and only of wood preserved from decay, they 

not only gave entire satisfaction, but were found supe- 
rior to all other pavements. In London and other large 

cities broad areas of heavily worked streets, hitherto 
laid with stone or granite, have been paved with wood. 

The comparative merits of wood, asphalt, and granite 
pavements have been fully tested by Col. Hey wood, 
engineer of the city of London. He has ascertained the 
fact that with the same expenditure of force, a horse 
can travel' 132 miles on granite, 191 miles on asphalt, 
and 415 miles on wood before an accident occurs. He 
reports that the whole number of horses falling, during 
a test of 50 days, was 2,327,of which 1,066 fell on asphalt 
719 on granite, and only 542 on wood, and that a horse 
after falling recovered himself much more easily on 
wood, than on cither stone or asphalt. 

Pavements made of blocks oi perserved wood have 
proved very durable. In Oxford st. , London, where the 



96 

traffic is equal to 300 tons pr. foot pr. day, the wear has 
been found to be from -^g to | inch during three and a 
half years. In "Great Howard" street, Liverpool, 
with a traffic consisting chiefly of carriages, amount- 
ing to about 94,000 tons pr. annum, pr. yard in width, 
the blocks have worn to the extent of f inch in 4 years. 
It is estimated that the wear of the wooden blocks in 
the city of London with the heaviest traffic is J inch pr. 
annum. At this rate a block would be reduced from 6 
inches to 3 inches in 24 years. 

Thus in England, where wood pavements have been 
properly constructed, and of preserved wood, which 
did not rot, they were found durable and approved* 
while in this country, where they have been poorly 
constructed, of perishable material, which very soon 
rotted, they were not found durable and were con. 
demned. 

There is no longer any doubt that for a good, solid, firm 
foundation or road-bed, regarded by English engineers 
as the true pavement, wood furnishes the best wear- 
ing surface, and that wood is very durable as long as 
it remains sound and strong in fibre. 

In practical mechanics it is found that the forces 
of concussion and friction are attended with less attri- 
tion and disintegration — ivear and tear — when sub- 
stances dissimilar in nature and density are brought 
together. Hence the farmer drives his iron wedges 
with a wooden maul, and not with a sledge of stone 
or granite ; he wears his scythe to an edge by bring- 
ing it in contact with a grind-stone, and not with a 
revolving piece of wood ; the stone- worker uses a wooden 
mallet upon his steel chisels, but saws large blocks 
of stone with smooth blades of iron. 

It is not strange then that wood should wear less 






97 

than stone in contact with iron shoes and tires, or 
that iron shoes and tires should wear more rapidly in 
contact with stone than with wood. 

The practical tests in England, however, have re- 
moved the only possible objection to wood pavements 
by demonstrating that they can be made lasting, that 
wood is a most durable paving material as long as it is 
sound and strong. In America an inventor has dis- 
covered a method of keeping wood sound and strong by 
the simple and inexpensive process of "Vulcanizing." 
This treatment will not only preserve the wood from 
rot, but develop in it qualities of toughness and strength 
which will greatly increase its durability. 

The soft and sappy woods can by this process be cured 
and solidified into excellent material for paving pur- 
poses. The " Pitch Pine," so abundant in the south 
and a very cheap wood in all accessible markets, when 
"vulcanized," will furnish the best paving blocks that 
have ever been used. They will resist decay, and 
prove as tough, firm and enduring as pine knots, 
while the rosin developed in them will prevent the slip- 
ping of horses. 

The people of this country evidently growing weary 
of the noise, dirt, damage, discomfort and inconven- 
ience of stone pavements, and not insensible to the 
manifest cruelty and inhumanity of driving horses 
over them, will at no distant day come back to wood 
pavements, and adopt the thorough English method of 
constructing them. 

With a foundation firm and solid, laid with "blocks 
of vulcanized wood," a pavement possessing all the in- 
dispensable requisites can be furnished for the streets 
of our cities and towns; a pavement which will pre 
sent a smooth, even surface and yet provide sure 
7 



98 

foot-hold; which will be firm and durable, yet not so 
hard as to render resistance shocking and damaging to 
horses and vehicles; which will insure an even and 
steady pressure of the wagon, diminish obstruction to 
wheels, and render the draft of horses more effective; 
which can be easily kept clean, and upon which travel 
on foot, on horseback, or on wheels will be easy, com- 
fortable and safe, and not attended with deafening and 
unendurable noise. With such a pavement along all the 
thoroughfares and avenues business can be transac- 
ted without constant interruption and annoyance, and 
the pleasures of homes enjoyed in some sort of peace 
and comfort. 

With an agreeable roadway running by his door, a 
man will not be compelled to travel several miles in 
torcure to find a road upon which he can take a short 
pleasure drive. 

A Model Pavemejst.— The following plan for making 
a model pavement has been suggested by an eminent 
engineer: 

Make a solid substantial foundation of bituminous 
or cement concrete ; spread upon it a thin layer of 
pilch, supplied with a sufficient quantity of oil to make 
it slightly but permanently plastic ; upon this, while 
hot, set blocks of " vulcanized wood " in rows, driving, 
them closely together ; between the rows, use strips of 
tarred felt, and make close joints ; then pour melted 
pitch over the whole surface, taking care to fill every 
crevice ; upon this spread fine sharp gravel or sand. 
No water can penetrate this pavement, it will not 
therefore be injured by frost, and the drainage will be 
solely on the surface. The " vulcanized " blocks will 
not absorb moisture, and will not therefore be thrown 
out of place by expansion. 



99 

It has also been suggested, by one who has given 
great attention to the subject, that blocks of "vulcan- 
ized wood " (especially pitch pine) eight or nine inches in 
length, laid on a sand foundation, as blocks of granite 
are now laid in the "Buss" pavement, will be found 
the most agreeable and durable pavement which has 
yet been tried. 

[From the "Sun."] 
A FIFTH AVENUE NUISANCE. 

Fifth Avenue, between Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets, has 
been experimentally paved by some private enterprise with a material 
into the composition of which asphalt enters largely. It has become ex. 
ceedingly hard and smooth, and is consequently very dangerous to drive 
upon. Mr Brewster, the carriage builder, says that fifteen or twenty 
valuable horses belonging to his customers have fallen and been severely 
hurt on that treacherous piece of pavement. Mr. Kemp, of Lanman & 
Kemp, had a team thrown and injured upon it the other day. Some of 
the gentlemen who have been subjected to such accidents are contempla_ 
ting measures to make the city responsible for the injury to their horses 
sustained here. 



Il^hat is the value of ihe QProccss for 



We have called attention to a few of the arts and in- 
dustries which will be benefited in an especial manner 
by this new process, but so long as the vast forests 
overspreading our broad domain supply us with wocd 
and lumber to so great an extent that no accurate account 
can be kept of the amount consumed, and no correct 
estimate be made of its value, it will be impossible to 
enumerate all the uses and set forth all the advantages 
of the " Vulcanizing" treatment. 

What is the value .of a simple and inexpensive pro- 
cess whereby millions upon millions of thousands of 
feet of wood and lumber for countless purposes can be 
prepared for use as rapidly as demanded, without the 
loss of money, time, labor and material incurred in 
ki seasoning V 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive process 
whereby wood and lumber required for all the me- 
chanical arts can in a few hours be so treated that its 
own natural fluids will supply the place of artificial 
filling, priming and sizing ( 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive pro- 
cess which will, in a few hours, make wood and lumber 
tougher, stronger and more durable for all purposes ' 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive process, 
which imparts to aU kinds of wood and lumber greater 
beauty of grain and coloring, and a higher capacity for 
development and illumination by finish and polish \ 



101 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive process 
by which perfectly green wood and lumber can in a few 
hours be thorougly cured and rendered fit for use ? 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive process 
by which all the wood and lumber treated by the natural 
and artificial processes of "seasoning" can in a few 
hours be put into a condition fit for use % 

What is the value of a simple and inexpensive process 
by which all the wood and lumber employed on sea and 
on land can be preserved from decay % 

The "Vulcanizing process" will accomplish all this. 
Its value can only be measured by its scope and power 
of usefulness, which are almost without limit. 

The process discovered by Henry Bessemer is a very 
simple one whereby a slight change is made in iron, 
which gives it the qualities of steel. His invention has 
been esteemed of such value that he has been knighted 
by his own government, has received the Albert gold 
medal of the society of Arts, and also a gold medal struck 
in his honor by the King of Wurtemburg. The knight- 
hood of the order of Francis Joseph has been conferred 
upon him by the Emperor of Austria, and the grand 
cross of the Legion of Honor awarded him by the late 
Emperor of the French. In addition to these tributes 
he has received in the form of royalties, to use his own 
language, " 1,057,748 of the beautiful little gold medals 
which are issued by the Royal Mint with the benign 
features of her most Gracious Majesty stamped upon 
them." That is, he has already realized in royalties on 
his patent a sum equeal to $5,287,740 of our money. 

As an evidence of the great value of this invention 
the " London Times " gives the calculations of Mr. Price 
Williams to show, that the substitution of Bessemer 
steel rails for iron rails will in L5 years prove a saving 
to all the railways of England of $850,000,000. 



102 

A slight change in the nature of wood, produced by the 
simple process of "Vulcanizing," improves its quality, 
and increases its durability as much as the * ' Bessemer 
process " improves the quality, and increases the dura- 
bility of iron: the substitution of "vulcanized wood," 
for the perishable material employed in the fences of 
the whole country, in the railroad ties, and telegraph 
poles of all our lines, wiU in 15 years prove a saving of 
$2,943,507,000. 

The ingenious devices of Thos. A. Edison, the famous 
American inventor, for the generation, subdivision 
and employment of electricity as an illuminating agent, 
whereby it is thought a better light than that produced 
from gas can be supplied at one third of the cost, are 
valuable inventions, and the stock of a New York 
company based upon them has lately sold for 84,000 and 
$5,000 per share. 

According to the census of 187C there were in the 
United States 390 Gas companies employing a capital 
of 871,773,394. Their gross annual product is estimated 
at 832, 048, 851, and their net product at 814, 532, 744. The 
cost of the product, in wages and material, is therefore 
817,416,107. Two thirds of this sum which is to be 
annually saved by the substitution of ' ' Electric " for 
" Gas " light amounts to 810,944,106. 

The substitution of ' ' vulcanized wood and lumber '* 
for the constantly rotting material employed in the 
fences of the United States will cause a saving of 
the annual cost of repairs, which amounts to over 
$113,000,000. In the State of New York alone the sav- 
ing in the annual cost of repairing fences would amount 
to 812,000,000. 

The possible results of these great inventions of 
Bessemer, and Edison, already slightly appreciated by 



103 

the public, are thus compared with what the " process 
of vulcanizing wood " will accomplish, even when limited 
to but few of its uses, in order to show the great value 
of each, and to illustrate in some measure, the benefi- 
cent power of inventive genius in the discovery, de- 
velopment and employment of the forces of nature. 



/ 5J5ulcani«ma, meet* an e^xicjencg of the 
IJPreseut 'Htfge-, ,-Seasomn.g onl^ a tem- 
porary expedient of the l&a&t. 



We live in an age of unprecedented progress, for which 
we are greatly indebted to the discovery of new forces, 
and the invention of new methods for their development 
and utilization. 

New discoveries and inventions, entering into all 
our national arts and industries, embracing every 
branch of manufacture, covering every field of agricul- 
ture, and interwoven with business in every department, 
have in the last half century brought about a new 
civilization. To the inventive genius of our people are 
we in a great measure indebted for much of the glory and 
prosperity of the country. The need of a great improv. 
ment is scarcely felt before it is supplied, if it has not 
already been anticipated. We arrive at one stage of 
progress only to be furnished with new methods and 
greater facilities for further advancement. One inven- 
tion leads to another, and creates a necessity for many 
others. 

By the stage coach, an improved method of rapid 
transit in its time, we could travel 75 miles a day, and 
enjoy mail facilities for an interchange of business 
messages every week or two. We can now move in all 
directions from 40 to 60 miles in an hour, can be whirled 
across the continent in a few days, and have an inter- 
change of messages with the remotest parts of the 
earth in a few moments. 

With devices of the past age, then considered re- 
markable and ingenious labor saving contrivances, a 



105 

woman could spin three miles of thread in a day, and 
weave several yards of cloth in a week. Through 
improved methods of employing natural forces, a 
girl of 15 now spins in a day a thread 2,100 miles in 
length, which would reach from Washington city to 
the State of California, and 1,300,000 persons employed 
throughout the world are doing work, which, if done 
by the old spinning wheel and hand loom, would require 
the labor of every individual upon the face of the earth- 
We have in this country 92,209 engines capable of 
performing the labor of 14,048,000 men, and 17,084 
locomotives doing the work of 29,676,960 horses on the 
common road. In Garsed's manufactory in Philadel- 
phia one eugine, with only seven tons of coal, does the 
work of 70,000 men. The State of Massachusetts in 
her engines (including locomotives) has a power equal 
to that of eight millons of laborers. Yet in the eyes of 
the inventor, the engine is only in its infancy. 

Improvements in the plow have increased its capacity 
until we can bring annually under its influence more 
than 188,000,000 acres of our fertile soil; we have 
been supplied with the cornplanter, the seeder, and the 
cultivator, and all the new inventions needed to produce 
from this vast acreage crops never before equalled. 

With the production of these large crops, has grown 
a necessity for other improvements, in supplying which 
the creative power of the inventor has been illustrated. 

The cradle when invented by a man in Scotland was 
described as "a most marvellous machine for cutting 
grain, as it would do as much work in a day as seven 
men with a sickle." The harvester of the American 
inventor will cut as much grain in a day as 300 men with 
a sickle, and at the same time do the work of almost as 
many binders. 



106 

The 2,021,000,000 pounds of cotton, constituting one 
year's crop, could not have been cleaned by hand with 
less than 505,000, 000 of days work at a cost of §505 ,000,000. 
By the improved cotton gin, the whole crop canjbe cleaned 
by 1,614 men working 313 days, at a cost of not over 
$500,000. 

To shell by hand such a crop of corn as is now raised 
in Illinois, Iow 7 a, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas 
would take the whole farming community of those 
States 100 days, and to shell by hand the 1,300,000,000 
bushels, composing the crop of the United States in 
1877, would have required the labor of the entire popu- 
lation, every man, woman and child of 40,000,000 of 
people, for one whole week including Sunday up to 12 
o'clock. With a single machine we can shell one thou- 
sand five hundred bushels per day. 

In this march of progress and improvements, the 
country grew rapidly in extent, population increased, 
arts and industries multiplied until the uses for wood 
and lumber became so numerous and its consumption so 
great, that to supply the demand with the old methods 
of manufacture would have been an impossibility. 

The 30,00' ' mills of the country, with their saws and 
gearing so improved by new inventions that one of them 
has cut as much as 179, 718 feet of lumber in the incredibly 
short time of two hours and forty minutes, while 
many of them have a capacity for sawing from 50,000 
to 150,000 feet in a day, have been able to supply the 
enormous demand. 

Another exigency was then presented . We were with- 
out the means of properly preparing for its many 
uses, the wood and lumber furnished so rapidly by the 
improved methods of sawing. By a long and tedious 
experience w r e had learned the inefficiency and insuffi - 



107 

ciency of the various processes of "seasoning. ,: These 
could not supply the demand, and after great loss 
of time, money and material in its production, "sea- 
soned " stuff could not be made to answer the pur- 
poses for which lumber was required, without a further 
preparation at an expense equal to its first cost. The 
processes of seasoning were at best only the temporary 
expedients of a former age with which they had passed 
away. 

The necessity, the imperative demand for some new 
improvement for the proper treatment of wood and 
lumber was met by the inventor. After long years of 
study and investigation, an American genius discovered 
that wood contained within itself certain elements 
which, by the simple forces of nature, could be made 
effective not only in its preservation from decay ', but in 
its perfect development, and thorough preparation for 
use. From this valuable discovery, this practical con- 
ception, was evolved the process of "Vulcanizing" 
by which wood of all kinds, of all shapes and forms, 
can at a small expense be cared and perpared for all 
uses, and rendered more useful for all purposes, and 
this can be done so rapidly as to supply all demands. 

Thus have new improvements promoted progress, pro- 
gress has created a necessity, and that necessity has 
brought forth an invention by which the world can 
grow richer and stronger every day through a new use 
of the powers of nature. 

To the cotton gin, and the electric telegraph, 
to the reaper, the planing machine, the sewing 
machine, and other inventions, whose beneficent influ- 
ences tell with measureless power upon every pulsation 
of our domestic, social and economical life, we can now 
add the " art of vulcanizing wood and lumber ; " an art, 



108 

which by the universality of its application and the mag- 
nitude of its results, is entitled to rank with all the great 
discoveries and wonderful achievements of this remark- 
able age ; an art, which accomplishes all that inventive 
genius has sought after for near two thousand years, 
and which will benefit directly or indirectly every interest 
within the whole range of civilization. 



^X&he IS* reservation of IX&oob anb dumber 

necessary io prevent iotal destruction 

of the JSforeats. 



The report of the Department of Agriculture for 
1865 contained an able and elaborate article calling 
attention to the rapid destruction of our forests, which, 
if not arrested, would at no distant day bring upon the 
country a national famine of wood with all its calami- 
tous results. The apprehensions of the writer were 
based upon certain startling facts revealed by the census 
of 1860. From these he learned among other things, 
that the annual production of sawed lumber for home 
consumption and exportation had reached the enormous 
sum of $95,912,286, being an increase of 63.09 per cent 
over the product of 1850, while the increase in popula- 
tion had been only 35.59 per cent; that the woodlands 
were being cleared of their forests at the rate of 
3,000,000 of acres every year, or 10,000 acres per day 
during 300 days of the year. After noticing at some 
length the vast amounts of wood and lumber consumed 
in the various arts and industries, in railway and other 
new enterprises, he ventured the predictions that if for 
20 years the demand for lumber should advance in the 
same ratio with the population, more than $200,000,000 
worth of American sawed lumber would be needed 
every year; that the increase of population which re- 
quired the timber from 3,000,000 of acres per annum, 
would then require it from 6,000,000 of acres per annum. 

These predictions have been more than verified. The 
census returns of L870 showed an annua] production 



110 

of 12, 755; 543, 000 feet of sawed lumber, valued at more 
than 8200,000,000. 

When with the sawed lumber of 1870, we include the 
greatly increased production of another ten years, and 
add the immense amount of wood made into shingles, 
boards, hoops and staves, into railway sleepers and 
telegraph poles, and into split, hewn, flatted and 
rounded material for other purposes, and then add all 
the wood and lumber employed in thousands of uses, 
of which the census takes no account, we may estimate 
the amount of wood and lumber now annually produced 
at 30,000,000,000 of feet; enough to load 150,000 vessels, 
or 4,500,000 railroad cars; enough to build of inch 
boards a floor 264 feet in width around the whole world. 

The increase of population which has brought into 
requisition such an astounding amount of wood and 
lumber, is attended with ruinous destruction of the 
forests in many ways. 

The consumption of millions upon millions of cords 
of wood as fue] upon railways and steamboats, in 
brick and lime making, and for household purposes, 
plays sad havoc with broad areas of the most valuable 
timber lands. In 1875 the small and sparsely timbered 
State of Massachusetts produced 706,714 cords of fire- 
wood. In the State of Wisconsin the commissioner of 
forestry estimates the consumption of fire- wood for 
household purposes at three cords for each person of 
the family. 

There are in this country six or seven hundred iron 
furnaces to be supplied with charcoal. Reliable sta- 
tistics show that sixteen of these establishments in New 
England annually consume 3,747,489 bushels of char- 
coal, and sixteen in New York, 2,911,832 bushels, while 
twenty-three in other States consume 12,202,700 bushels. 



Ill 

From these estimates it is evident that to furnish all 
the establishments of the country with the amount of 
charcoal annually consumed requires the growth from 
millions of acres of forest. Many of these furnaces are 
located in heavily timbered regions, and already for 
miles around them the wood is all gone. 

Millions of acres of woodland are annually cleared 
and brought under cultivation. On our widely extended 
frontier, and even in the older States, in regions remote 
from market, and without the means of transportation 
for logs and lumber, many of the finest timber trees 
are deadened by girdling, while others are cut down, 
rolled into great piles, and burned into ashes. In every 
twenty-four hours thousands of acres of grand old 
forests are thus subjected to indiscriminate destruction. 

Fires and tornadoes sweep over the forests of whole 
States causing devastations which can be measured only 
by square miles, and losses of timber which can be 
counted only by hundreds of millions. In a single year 
forest fires have destroyed as much timber as would be 
required for ten years of ordinary consumption. They 
are most prevalent, their damage most extensive in 
seasons of protracted draught, and by the destruction 
of the forests draughts are becoming more frequent and 
protracted . 

Such is the consumption of timber, by this wide 
spread work of destruction, and by its rapid conversion 
into wood and lumber to meet the unceasing and ever in- 
creasing demands of the country, that twelve millions of 
acres of forest are swept away every year, or forty 
thousand acres, erery day for 300 days of the year. 

We learn by a well digested report of the forest 
resources of all the States and Territories, emanating 
from the Department of Agriculture, that there (fie in 



112 

our tvhole country only 583,366,S36 acres of woodland. 

If forest destruction continue at the rate of 12 millions 
of acres per year, every acre of this vast area of wood- 
land will be stripped of its timber in IS years. 

The pine forests which have promoted so greatly the 
arts and industries, and contributed so largely to our 
welfare, happiness and prosperity, will in a few years 
be entirely swept away. 

Mr. James Little, of Montreal, Canada, in a pamphlet 
lately published, says, that the State of Maine, once 
called the ''Pine Tree State'' of the Union, is now 
almost stripped of that product. In 1870 Maine furnished 
639,167,000 feet of lumber. In that State at the present 
time there are over 1,099 saw mills ''slashing up" 
spruce and hemlock logs of but six or eight inches in 
diameter. 

New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecti- 
cut, and Ehode Island, New York, Xew Jersey, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, were 
at one time dense forests, and within a few years most 
of those States lying east of the Ohio held large tracts 
of the finest pine timber. Those States to day, Penn- 
sylvania excepted, are practically denuded of that wood, 
and with the exception of a small amount of spruce in 
the Adirondack^, in the State of Xew York, have little 
of any description left. Even Pennsylvania, which at 
one time was one of the best pine-producing States of 
the Union, is now within a very few years of being 
stripped of that wood. A significant and alarming fact 
is, that the coal regions once famous for their pine pro- 
duction, cannot now supply timber props enough for 
their mines. 

The amount of timber now standing in the State of 
Michigan, according to Mr. Little, can furnish only 



113 

17,000,000,000 feet of lumber, which, at the present 
rate of consumption, 3,000,000,000 of feet annually, 
would be exhausted in six years. 

The future supply which may be expected from 
Wisconsin and Minnesota, is 32,278,950,000 feet. The 
present consumption drawn from those States is esti- 
mated at 2,500,000,000 annually, which in six yeais 
would amount to 15,000,000,000 of feet. 

When in six years the pine lumber in Michigan is ex- 
hausted, the 3,000,000,000 of feet furnished by that 
State must be drawn from Wisconsin and Minnesota. 
Those States would then have to supply 5,500,000,000 
instead of 2,500,000,000 feet annually, which would 
exhaust the balance of the 32,278,950,000 feet in a little 
over three years, not taking into consideration the 
number of consumers that will be added to the popula- 
tion in that time. 

It will be seen from the foregoing statements that the 
time is not far distant when Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota and other lumber States will be exhausted, 
and when our sole reliance will be upon the pineries of 
the South. 

In the eleven States comprising what is called the 
South, there is an area of woodland, of about 235,146,537 
acres, embracing pine timber estimated at 11,000,500 
cubic feet, or 120,000,000,000 of feet inch measure, which 
amounts to more than all the white pine and spruce this 
side of the Rocky Mountains. There is already a heavy 
drain upon the Southern pineries to supply domestic and 
foreign demands and their lumber bearing capacity is 
greatly reduced by the operations of the turpentine 
farmers. When the pine timber of Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota and other States is all gone, and when the pine 
8 



114 

forests of the South are drawn upon for the amount of 
lumber hitherto supplied by the exhausted States, they 
too will be in a few years destroyed. In the opinion of 
Mr. Little a single decade ivill make a clean sweep of 
every foot of commercial {pine) wood in the United 
States this side of the Pacific slojie. 

The danger of a wood and lumber famine in this 
country is indeed becoming alarming. We can now 
appreciate the wisdom and foresight which inspired the 
serious and important warnings, which fifteen years ago, 
were sent out from the Department of Agriculture. 

When by the extinction of our noble forest growth 
the supplies of wood and lumber necessary for all the 
arts and industries are cut off, disaster, direful and 
universal disaster, will fill the whole land. The wide 
spread ruin from commercial revulsions, and wars' deso- 
lations will appear as of little importance compared with 
the terrible calamity which a dearth of timber will bring 
upon the country. 

Political economists, legislators and the press begin 
to realize that the future welfare of the nation is im- 
periled. They have become alarmed, and are suggesting 
measures to avert the threatened evil. Laws are being 
passed looking to the protection of existing woodlands, 
the encouragement of tree planting and forest culture, 
the prevention of fires, and of the wanton destruction 
and waste of timber. 

The most effective method of protecting the forests of 
the country, is to prevent the constant and universal 
destruction of ivood and lumber by decay. 

Growth is slow, restoration tedious, destruction by 
decay is rapid. With all the encouragement and pro- 
tection which may be afforded by legislative enactments 



115 

the production of timber cannot be made to keep pace 
with its destruction by decay. 

Time for growth and restoration of the forests can be 
gained by diminishing the consumption of timber, and 
the consumption of timber can be diminished by the 
preservation of ivood and lumber from destruction by 
decay. 

It is said that the pineries can never be replaced; 
that it takes a century to grow a standard pine log 22 
inches in diameter, and that full grown pines represent 
hundreds of years of growth. Nevertheless planting 
should be encouraged, and the man who makes two 
trees grow in place of one should be considered a 
public benefactor. The man who, by preventing decay, 
makes one tree last so long as to save the cutting of 
many, should also be considered a public benefactor. 

The rotting of railroad ties, of telegraph poles, of wood 
and lumber in its numberless other uses, and in all its 
shapes and forms, creates an annual demand for timber, 
which can only be supplied by an exhausting drain 
upon the forests. The most practical method of saving 
timber, and of preventing a total destruction of the 
forests of the country is to use "vulcanized" wood and 
lumber for all purposes. 

When our forests are being destroyed and our timber 
supply exhausted so rapidly that the country is threat- 
ened with the calamity of a wood famine, it will be 
found that the "Art of Vulcanizing," by which wood 
and lumber can be cured and prepared for use. can 
be developed and strengthened and made more useful. 
and at the same time preserved from decay and rendered 
more durable for all uses, is "the Most Valuable Dis- 
covery of the Age." 



Tr - Weir To A Sun, Fteb. 5th, 188L] 

THE TIMBER LANDS OF MICHIGAN. 

In to-days Bradgtreefs, information concerning the lumber trade in 
Michigan shows thatin flic Saginaw Valley :"_e capacity of the sixty-seven 

mills in operation is now 9*23,000,000 feet in a year. In 1S72 ; it was 
thought that the mills of the valley had reached the limit of their produc- 
tion, but statistics show that the output for that year has been exceeded 
four limes. The proportion of stock sold to that unsold at the close of 
last season was not as great as in the year previous, but was far greater 
than that in 1878, and in comparison with the records of previous years 
makes a favorable exhibit. 

Heavy firms and syndicates are buying the pine lands, and it is believed 
that before long the lumbering interests of Michigan will be in the control 
of a few individuals and firms. 

In the Lake Huron Shore district are twenty-six mills, with a day capa- 
city of 310,000,000 feet a year. It produced 23,728,391 feet less than in 
1879. Green Bay has thirty-four mills, with an increase in production, 
compared with 1879, of 102,533,488 feet. In all there are 523 large lum- 
bering mills in the State. 

The exact amount of lumber manufactured in Michigan in 1880, was 
3,769,166,329 feet. The amount of increase over the production in 189! 
is in round numbers 658,000,000 feet, and that of 1879 over that of 1878, 
6-51,000,000 feet. As to lumber on hand, tnei e is 886,617,679 feel in Mich- 
gan, this being an excess over the surplus in 1879 of 209,290,761 feet 
The number of shingles made last year is 2,428,659,230, and is in excess 
of the production of 1879 by 370,574,480 shingles. 

The introduction of railroads has changed the nature of logging in the 
pas I -' e y e a 1 5 The supply is regulated by anticipated demand. When 
spring opens a larger quantity of logs will be floated than ever before in 
one season. It is estimated that 3,885,000,000 feet have been banked this 
winter. 

A lumberman computes thai ._:: . are standing in Michigan 44,000,000 
000 feet of lumber. At the present rate of destruction, these forests would 

last only elt" a .rs. The land., however, is good for farming. 



117 

[From the New York Sun, May 5th, 1881.] 

The necessity of doing something to replenish our rapidly diminishing 
timber supply becomes more apparent with each year's report from the 
forests of the North-western States. The quantity of lumber felled during 
the season just closed in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin was over 
six billion feet. The logging next summer will increase this to seven 
billions and a half. At this rate of encroachment, the supply of timber 
will not last a dozen years. A lumber famine is plainly near at hand* 
unless practical steps are taken to prevent it. 

By proclamation of the Governor of Michigan, the 25th of April has 
been made a public holiday, to be known as Arbor or Tree Planting Day, 
and efforts are to be made to have it generally observed every year in the 
manner indicated by its name. It is expected that the Governors of other 
States will take similar action. If this serves to interest the people thor- 
oughly in the question, and to awaken them to its importance, it will help 
toward averting a serious danger. 



[From the Baltimore Sun.] 

Preservation of Timber. — The United States, for its area, is proba- 
bly the best wooded country in the world. Still, an examination of the 
maps in Professor Walker's statistical atlas to accompany the last census 
will convince every one that in more than one-half of the entire country 
the woodland does not exceed an average of sixty acres to the square 
mile. Experience has taught even our wasteful lumbermen and timber- 
getters that our woodland is far from being inexhaustible, and the prac- 
tice current forty years ago of clearing up wooded tracts by" deadening '■> 
the timber and burning it when seasoned for potash has pretty much been 
abandoned. In the treeless, rolling prairies west of Missouri the practice 
now is for State, county and local authorities to give every encouragement 
to tree planting, and, under the modified homestead law, in some sections 
government land may be taken up upon the simple condition of planting 
forest trees on a certain proportion of it. Nevertheless, these are only 
partial provisions against a continually increasing diminution of our 
valuable timber areas, and our hard woods, as well as our coniferous 
forests, are being cut down much more rapidly than they can be made to 
grow up again. The statistics of the consumption and waste of timber 
in the United Slates present a startling aggregate. Our fences alone 
according to Mr. Dodge, late statistician ol the agricultural bureau, have 
cost < ui | ((pie $1,100,000,000, nearly half of which consists in value of 



118 

material, and the annual cost of repairs is estimated at $198,800,000 towards 
which Maryland alone contributes $2,000,000 and New YorK $12,000,000. 
An iron furnace that burns charcoal, if in full blast, will consume all the 
wood around it for three miles. Our railroad fences have cost $4,500,000. 
Our friction matches alone demand 230,000 feet of pine lumber annually, 
and our shoe-peg makers use up a million dollars' worth of white birch 
every year. It needs the wood upon 98,000 acres to supply the annual 
demand of our railroads for ties. It is estimated by Hon. George P. Marsh 
and other competent and careful observers that at the lumberman's esti- 
mate of 333,000 feet ol lumber to each 40 acres our total consumption of 
timber for all purposes would demand the clearing of twelve million acres 
of woodland every year. This is an area equal to that of Vermont and 
New Hampshire combined. Anything that will tend to check this enor- 
mous destruction of woodland must be welcomed on all hands as a great 
national boon. The maps referred to in General Walker's atlas show 
very strikingly that our treeless waste corresponds almost line for line 
with the sections where the rainfall is totally absent or very deficient. 
Forests, whether they promote the aggregate rainfall or not, certainly 
husband the waters of the streams which bind upon them, modify climate 
beneficially, protect lands from winds, increase the grass crops, and add 
to the fertility of soils. Hence the importance of every measure or im- 
provement which tends to check the destruction of timber. Good forestry 
laws (not "stumpage" regulations like those recently put forth by Sece- 
tary Schurz) and laws for the encouragement of planting in treeless areas 
will always be acceptable. We must of course do nothing to check or ob- 
struct the vast and varied industries which find scope in the preparation, 
transportation and manufacture of our diffierent hard and soft woods, but 
it is perfectly right to promote experiments looking to the preservation of 
timber in use. Thus, take the case of railroad ties, which survive only five 
years on the average. Any process by which the life in use of a railroad 
tie or a fence post, or a sill or telegraph post, or a wharf pile, or any other 
piece of timber that is brought in immediate contact with the earth or the 
water may be doubled or extended materially, w 7 ill be the greatest possible 
relief to our overtaxed woodlands. A great many experiments have been 
made and are still making by governments and private persons also to 
find out how timbers may be prevented from decay and protected from 
the ravages of insects; but no cheap universal medium to effect this has 
yet been found. In the case of the teredo and its ravages some careful ex- 
periments made at Amsterdam and elsewhere in Holland seem to have 
proved that creosote is a nearly perfect preventive. But no practicable, 
cheap means are yet known by which a chestnut post, for instance, which 
rots off in fifteen years, may be kept sound for thirty. 



119 

The " VULCANIZING " Process will preserve from decay " a railroad 
tie, a fence post and board, a telegraph post, a wharf pile, and any oilier piece of 
timber or lumber brought in contact with tlie earth or water, and will afford 
the desired relief to the overtaxed Woodlands." 



[Prom the Baltimore Sun.] 

The Consumption of Lumber in this conntry is enormous, altogether 
beyond what is generally supposed. The annual demand for ties and 
sleepers of our 90,000 miles of railway is estimated to be 60,000,000 
square feet, and to inclose the roads would require 180,000 miles of fence. 
We have 75,000 miles of telegraph wire to put up, for which 3,000,000 trees 
are needed, while repairs would need near 300,000 more trees a year. The 
common lucifer match uses up 30C,000 cubic feet of the finest pine 
annually. The bricks baked every year require 3,000,000 cords of wood, 
which would be all that 50,000 acres of average timber-land would 
contain. Shoe-pegs exhaust annually 100,000 cords of wood; last and 
boot-trees some 500,000 cords of beech, birch, and maple, and about as 
much more is required for the stock of planes and other tools. The pack- 
ing-boxes made in the United States in 1874 cost $12,000,000, and the lum- 
ber manufactured into wagons, agricultural implements, etc., was worth 
over $100,000,000. An immense quantity of lumber is employed for 
fences of houses and farms. Our consumption of lumber increases steadly 
and so do our foreigu shipments, our exports of pine, maple, walnut and 
oak being very large. Immense as our resources are, the supply must 
ere long be exhausted. 



[From the Rochester Democrat.] 
HOW OUR FORESTS ARE USED UP. 

Our forests are rapidly going, while no adequate provision is being 
made to restore them. The State of New York has a great park full of 
timber in the northern wilderness, but annual fires are making havoc in 
that region. The great woods are probably loosing more than they gain 
from annual growth. Wood is becoming more scarce and inaccessible 
every year. In ninny States the forests on level ground have mostly dis- 
appeared, and only remain upon high hills or mountains, which are 
not easily accessible. The Monetary IHrnes tells how the forests disap„ 
pear : 



120 

To make shoe pegs enongh for American use consumes annually 100,- 
000 cords of timber, and to make our lucifer matches, 300,000 cubic feet of 
the best pine are required every year. Lasts and boot-trees take 500,000 
cords of birch, beech, and maple, and the handles of tools 500,000 cords 
more. The baking <>f our bricks consumes 2,000,000 cords of wood, or 
what would cover with forest about 50,000 acres of land. Telegraph 
poles already up represent 5,000,000 trees, and their annual repairs con- 
sumes abont 500,000 more. The ties of our railroads consume annu- 
ally thirty years' growth of 75,000 acres and to fence all our railroads 
would cost $45,000,000, with a yearly expenditure of $15,000,000, for 
repairs. 

In the North-west there has been a very rapid destruction of the forests, 
and much solicitude is felt as to the future source of timber supply. 



[From the New York Sun.] 

There is in Massachusetts a society for the promotion of agriculture 
which seems to be going about its work in the right way. It has lately 
taken in hand the encouragement of tree planting, which is a matter de- 
serying of more attention than it is receiving from the tillers of the soil. 
The annual devastations of our forests are going on at a rate which ex- 
cites the alarm of the men vho have most carefully studied our supply 
of timber. We find in the Springfield Republican some interesting statis- 
tics on this subject. Our railroads anuually consume for fuel alone a 
quantity of forest trees representing twenty-five years' growth on 350,000 
acres. Railroad sleepers use up thirty years' growth on 100,000 acres. 
Fences to enclose the railroads clear as many acres more. Telegraph 
poles for 65,000 miles of telegraphs require the felling of 2,600,000 trees, 
and the annual repairs 250,000 more. For matches alone there are annu- 
ally sawed up 230,000 cubic feet of wood. In 1870, 36,000 acres were strip- 
ped for brick making. Shoe pegs take 100,000 cords of white birch annu- 
ally. In 1870, for pine packing boxes and for wooden ware, vast quan- 
tities of valuable timber were used, and sawed logs footed up in value to 
over $103,000,000. Add to this voracious demand that made for ordi- 
nary fences and firewood, and to that add the wanton destruction of for- 
ests for mere clearing, when sometimes the timber felled subserves no 
useful purpose, and we begin to get some idea of the rapidity with 
which our forests are disappearing, and to discover the reasons for the 
solicitude for the future felt by those who have most carefully studied 
the subject of the destruction of our growing trees. 



121 

[From the Baltimore Sun.] 
IMPORTANCE OF FOREST PRESERVATION. 



It was mentioned in late Washington special dispatches of " The Sun " 
that the commissioner of agriculture has addressed a letter to the President 
recommending an appropriation of $8,000 to prosecute during the next 
year the inquiries into the subject of forestry which were begun last }'ear 
under the auspices of the department by Dr. Hough, of New York. It 
is said with truth that the question of timber culture and timber preserva- 
tion, not only on the public but on private lands of the United States, is 
one of the most difficult and one of the most interesting problems that 
can attract our attention. It is not too much to say that not any nor all 
of the important questions which must be considered by Congress at this 
session are of greater paramount concern to the people of the United States 
than the adoption of measures for the preservation and renewal of our 
forests. There is not a single subject before'Congress so closely connected 
with the increase of our national wealth, the salubrity of our climate, the 
production of the soil, and the other wants of society, and which has 
received so little of the fostering protection of the government, as the 
forests of our country. Europe, in its forest laws, is far ahead of America, 
and is in less danger at this moment of becoming a desert than the United 
States are, unless something prompt and effective is done to arrest the 
wholesale destruction of timber which is still going on in all parts of this 
country. It has been truly said that growth is slow and restoration 
tedious, while destruction is rapid and injury instantaneous. Palestine 
and Syria, Egypt and Italy, France and Spain have seen some of their 
most fertile lands turned into deserts by the destruction of the forests. 

There are parts of Asia Minor, of Northern Africa, of Greece, and even 
of Alpine Europe, once covered with luxuriant woods, verdant pastures, 
and fertile meadows, which have now become so completely desolated 
as to be rendered an unfit abode for man. We are really in danger here 
of such a result in some sections of the country unless intelligent and 
immediate measures of remedy are adopted. The evils of past destruction 
have been a great increase in the cost of fuel, in the price of lumber and 
timber, hindering the erection of dwellings and rendering furniture very 
expensive, and the high rates of fares and freight charges on our lines of 
travel and transportation, from the increased cost of building and equipping 
steamboats and railroads. Cheap bread, cheap houses, cheap fuel and 
cheap transportation of passengers and freights are fundamental to the 
material growth and prosperity of a nation. All these are hindered by 
the havoc now making in our forests. The consumption by building 
railroads, for railroad fuel, the general consumption of wood for fuel in 
the country, the consumption by mechanical industry, the destruction by 



122 

war, by improvident waste, and the destruction by farmers who, when 
wood commands a high price, cut down their choicest trees, are among 
the causes which threaten the noble forest growth of America with ex- 
tinction. No private efforts can meet the emergency. Congress and the 
State Legislatures should afford every facility for the proper understanding 
of the subject, and for the adoption of the moist thorough means to pre- 
vent what threatens to become eventually a national calamity. 



[Prom the Cincinnati Gazette.! 

THE PINE FORESTS OF MICHIGAN BEING RAPIDLY EX- 
HAUSTED BY THE LUMBERMAN. 



Alpena, Aug. 7. — Alpena is one of the many Michigan towns that are 
springing up along the lake shore at the mouths of rivers whose tribu- 
taries flow through the great pine forests of the State. Every river 
throughout the constantly receding timber belt of Michigan, now reaching 
from the Saginaw Valley to the Straits of Mackinaw, sufficiently large to 
float a raft of logs, becomes a highway between the lumber camps, wherein 
motley crews of men, gathered for a few winter months from all nations 
of the world, rob the forests of their precious pine. The time is near when 
the pine, hoarded by nature for ages within the bosom of her forests, 
will be exhausted; when the rough woodsman will have departed to other 
lands ; when the sawmills, now bustling with life, will stand silent and 
deserted. What is to be the future of this region when that time shall 
arrive ? Is it to remain a useless waste, awaiting the slow restoration of 
its forests? It is certain that the agricultural value of the land stripped 
of its pine is proving to be much greater than was formerly supposed. 
Clearings are being made, and good crops of wheat, oats, hay, and potatoes 
raised. A tide of emigration in this way is following the woodchoppers 
and converting the mutilated forests into prosperous farms. When the 
terrible forest fires of Michigan swept over 10,000 acres of fine land along 
the Lake Huron coast, south of Saginaw Bay, and destroyed whole towns, 
many lives, and millions of dollars worth of property, the lumbering 
interests were utterly destroyed. Not a single mill, I am told, in all that 
region has since been built. It was thought the fire had ruined the future 
of the burned district, and that it would be thenceforth valueless. These 
fires occurred the year of the Chicago fire, just ten years ago, and to-day 
this burnt district is said to be the finest farming region of the State. 

The destruction of the pineries of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 
is a matter of importance. How long will the forests of these three 
States that contain the chief stores of pine timber on this continent east 



123 

of the Rocky Mountains continue to supply the enormous drains being 
made upon them ? One example will show how rapid is the process of 
destruction. The Saginaw Valley formerly contained the largest and 
finest pine forests in the State of Michigan. Mill after mill was built along 
the banks of the river, until their united capacity reached 600,000,000 feet 
of lumber per year. To supply these mills the pine in the Saginaw Valley 
has been already in great part exhausted, and mill owners are obliged 
to bring logs from other rivers, often as far as 150 miles distant, to supple- 
ment the stock of the Saginaw river. The output on that river has 
reached its climax. No more new mills are built or old ones replaced. 
The business must gradually diminish in volume until the Saginaw Valley, 
now the greatest lumber district in the world, shall hear the buss of the 
saw no more 

Talking to a gentleman of Alpena, who has witnessed the growth of 
the lumbering business of that place almost from its commencement 
and whose business for years has kept him accurately posted as to the 
quantity and location of the pine in the Alpena district, he said that, 
dividing the number of millions of feet of pine timber tributary to the 
Alpena river by the annual capacity of the Alpena mills, it gave them 
fifteen years supply. These figures agree very closely with those given 
me a few weeks ago by the president of the largest logging company on 
the Mississippi river, operating in the Wisconsin pineries, a region that 
has been worked much less extensively than the Michigan pineries. 
They would last, he said, thirty or forty years. The Minnesota pineries 
are not so large as either of the others, and will probably not survive 
them. In from twenty-five to forty years the last tree will be cut, and 
the entire country from Maine to the Rocky Mountains must learn to 
live with meagre quantities of pine lumber brought at a great expense 
from distant countries. 

The pineries cannot be replaced. A full grown tree represents 
hundreds and hundreds of years of growth. I saw small pines, no larger 
around than a man's arm, bearing the scars made by the axes of the 
United States Engineers thirty-five years ago. What ages, then, must be 
required to produce a tree three or four feet in diameter ? When these 
forests reach the condition of the pineries of Maine and New York, and 
become extinct, no new ones will take their places. The Americau of the 
near future must learn to hew and build without pine, and marvel at the 
thoughtless recklessness of his ancestors. 



124 

[From the New Orleans Times. ] 
NECESSITY OF PRESERVING OUR WOOD. 



The rapid destruction of the forests of this country is beginning to 
force itself as a great fact upon public attention. In the last report of the 
Agricultural Bureau an earnest appeal is made to the people of the United 
States to arrest the destruction of our forests by planting young trees, so 
as in some degree to make production keep pace with decay. It must 
be admitted that timber of various kinds takes rank as a necessity in the 
arts and industrial requirements of humanity, and statistics show that in 
the first settled portions of this country wood is becoming extremely 
scarce and valuable. These older settlements are now drawing their sup- 
plies from the newer States, and in this manner the whole tree-bearing 
territory of the country is in process of being gradually denuded of forests, 
which should serve the double purpose of supplying a recognized neces- 
sity in civilized as well as savage life, and of attracting, preserving and 
distributing the moisture on which fertility depends. Not only our own 
people, but foreign nations, have become the consumers of our forests, 
our oaks, pines and other trees beings shipped in large quantities to Eng- 
land and the European continent. A single gun-factory in Europe is said 
to have consumed, during the first two years of our late civil strife, no less 
than 28,000 walnut trees in the manufacture of gun-stocks, all of which 
were shipped from this country as timber, and were returned here in their 
new form as parts of deadly weapons. During the decade between 1850 
and 1860, fifty milllion acres of land were, within the limits of the United 
States, brought into cultivation. Of the vast tracts this immense number 
of acres represents, two-thirds are supposed to have been originally tim- 
bered, but are now no longer timber-producing. The uses to w 7 hich lum- 
ber is applied in buildings, fences, fuel and furniture are, however, incon- 
siderable compared with the waste and intentional destruction of forest trees 
by frontier encroachment ; and when we take into consideration the fact 
of our rapidly increasing population, in connection with another fact, to 
wit : that a large portion of our domain is naturally treeless, or prairie 
land, it is by no means difficult to anticipate a time when a wood famine 
will prevail throughout our boundless continent, unless remedial meas- 
ures are in time adopted. These should consist not only of legislative 
measures to secure the planting of trees and the preservation of forests, 
but the application of such scientific principles and processes as will in- 
crease the durability of wood. The enormous quantities of w 7 ood re- 
quired for railway sleepers, bridges, fences, wharves and other purposes, 
considered in connection with the known rapidity with which the kinds 
of wood commonly employed for such purposes, decay, renders it of the 
utmost importance that the durability of woods be, if possible, increased. 



125 

It is well known that timber, employed for certain purposes, has in En- 
gland been subjected to a certain process which preserves it from decay, 
even as the flesh of animals is preserved by salts and chemical combina- 
tions. This process, applied to railway ties and bridge timber, in 1839, 
proved completly effectual. After twenty-five years of exposure it was 
found " perfect as newly-sawed lumber," such being the verdict of the 
judges of Exposition Universelle. The process employed is called the 
Bethell process, but it is understood that one, not only cheaper but equally 
effectual, has been discovered in this country, by which wood is preserved 
from natural decay, as well as from the attacks of sea worms, so destruct- 
ive to wharves and the bottoms of wooden ships. In no quarter of the 
world does wood decay more rapidly than in New Orleans. Our wharves, 
bridges and fences have to be renewed every five years, at great cost and 
inconvenience. If they could, by a cheap process of preparation, be 
made to last for twenty-five, thirty or forty years, the advantages would 
be almost unspeakable and the means of averting the threatened wood 
famine would be apparent. 



HOW TO SAVE OUR FORESTS. 



Boston, Aug. 30. — The American Association for the Advancement of 
Science met in general session in Huntington Hall, at 10 a, m. Cincinnati 
was selected for the next meeting of the association, which will begin on 
Aug. 17, 1881. The committee to memoralize Congress and State 
Legislature upon the cultivation of timber, reported through Dr. Franklin 
B. Hough of Lowville, N. Y. The report was accompanied by a draft 
of a memorial, which invites the attention of State Legislatures to the 
great and increasing importance of providing by adequate legislation 
for the protection of the existing woodlands of this country against 
needless waste, and for the encouragement of measures tending to a more 
economical use and proper maintainancc of our timber supply, it being 
evident that the forests of the country are being used and wasted in a 
much greater degree than their restoration by natural growth. The 
committee recommend a law to protect trees planted along highways, 
and to encourage such plantings by deductions from highway taxes ; 
also the passage of a law that shall exempt, from taxation the increased 
value of land arising from the planting of trees where none were growing 
for such period as may appear proper, or until some profit may be 
realized from plantation ; by appropriations of money to agricultural and 
horticultural societies, to be applied as premiums for their planting ftm i 
for prizes for the best essays and reports upon subjects of practical forest 



12S 

culture ; by encouraging educational institutions to introduce courses of 
instruction having reference to practical sylviculture; by laws tending to 
prevent forest fires: by imposing penalties against wilful or careless 
setting of such fires, and enlarging and defining the powers of local 
officers in calling for assistance and in adopting measures for suppressing 
them ; by establishing under favorable circumstances model plantations ; 
by the appointment of a Commission of Forestry under State authority 
analogous to the Commission of Fisheries. 



[From the N. York Sun.] 
THE GREATEST DAMAGE DONE BY FIRE. 



If the town officers in the portions of the country which suffer from 
forest fires lend proper assistance, the tenth census will contain statistics 
concerning those conflagrations that may prove of the greatest value as a 
guide to legislative efforts for preventing the destruction of our growing 
timber by accidental fires. 

At the instance of Mr. C. S. Sargent, who has charge of the statistics 
of forestry, the Superintendent of the Census has issued a circular to such 
officers asking for particulars as to the area burned over and the value of 
the property destroyed during the year 1880 and during the last ten years, 
and as to the causes of the forest fires in each town. Suggestions as to 
methods for the prevention of the fires are also sought by this circular, 
which should command the most careful attention of every town officer 
who receives it. 

Few people have any proper conception of the magnitude of the damage 
annually done by these forest fires. In a dry season, like last summer, 
for instanee, they often burn up timber of millions of dollars in value. 
The total of the immediate loss they occasion in the destruction of build- 
ings and growing crops, as well as of timber, is sometimes greater than 
that brought about by any of the other conflagrations of which we have 
had experience, even those that laid waste Boston and Chicago. The vast 
forest fires of 1871 in Michigan and Wisconsin alone caused a pecuniary 
loss estimated at hundreds of millions. Including both woodland and 
prairie, the fires of that year swept over thousands of square miles, and 
destroyed not only forests, but also villages and cultivated farms. Such 
fires have of recent years devastated many thousand acres in New York, 
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and occasioned a loss in timber alone 
which aggregates millions more. 



127 

In a single year forest fires have destroyed as much timber as would be 
required for the ordinary consumption of the country for ten years. And 
yet that is only the first loss. We must add the incalculable prospective 
damage done the land over which the fires have burned. They generally 
leave it in a condition which prevents it from again nourishing valuable 
species of timber until after many years have passed. Instead of the 
fine timber destroyed, inferior growths appear. The calcined soil refuses 
to sustain better species than scrub oak or some other worthless variety 
of tree. 

All through the South, for instance, hard pine is being replaced by an 
almost useless species, owing to the annual practice of burning over the 
forests to improve the miserable pasturage they yield. In our Northern 
States the white pine and the hemlock do not again grow on land pre- 
viously burned over. In this State regions once covered by pine forests 
are now barely able to support huckleberry and blackberry bushes, so 
frequent have been the fires. 

This enormous loss is occurring at a time when the legitimate demands 
upon our timber were never so great, and when it is obvious that our 
timber supply can only be kept sufficient for our needs by the greatest 
care in preserving and replacing our forest. Moreover, instead of dimin- 
ishing with the advance of civilization, the fires are rather increasing. 
There is more danger of them from the sparks of passing locomotives 
and from the carelessness of the multiplying population. Last summer 
the fires were especially destructive, and they are sure to rage to some 
extent every summer, and to a great extent when the season is dry and 
the winds favorable. 

It is intended to make the tenth census more complete than any taken 
before in its information as to our forests. The subject is one in which a 
much greater degree of intelligent interest is shown than it formerly re- 
ceived, for the necessity of efficient measures for the preservation of a 
proper proportion of woodland begins to be better appreciated. The 
wanton waste of valuable timber in the making of clearings, in fencing, 
and in obtaining firewood, needs to be checked; but the greatest enemy of 
our forests is fire. How to prevent these forests fires is one of the most 
serious of questions. We hope, therefore, that the town officers of whom 
information is sought for the census will take due pains to furnish full 
and accurate facts regarding them, and so supply Mr, Sargent with the 
data for a thorough study of the whole important subject. 



128 

[From the New York Evening Post] . 
THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY. 



We are rapidly using up our timber. It requires no prophet to foresee 
the time when the forests upon which we now rely will no longer exist. 
If matters go on as they are going wood for all purposes will become 
scarce and high in this country long before the boys and girls now in 
school shall become old men and women. To say that we shall thus 
lose a source of great annual profit and shall increase the cost of every 
manufactured article into the construction of which wood enters, thereby 
enhancing the expense of living to every family in the country, is to tell 
only a part of the story of the future, and a minor part at that. The 
major part is a fearful looking-for of judgment, a new cursing of the ground 
worse than the first ; for while the primal curse bade the earth bring 
forth thorns and weeds, the curse with which we are threatened will 
forever forbid it to bring forth any vegetation at all. 

Scientific observation shows conclusively that land stripped of trees 
deteriorates in a fixed course, from rich loam to sandy loam, and from 
sandy loam to sand, arid and beyond redemption. There are just two 
steps from the cornfield to the desert, from a garden to Sahara. There 
are parts of Asia once covered with heavy forests, in which acorns now 
rot and wither where they are planted; districts once as fertile as our 
own plains which are now barren and desolate beyond the power of any 
fertilizer to redeem them. The history of those districts will be repeated 
in that of our own plains and mountain sides if we continue to invite 
desolation as we do now. 

The evil is double headed. We sin against nature both in what we do 
and in what we leave undone. Without doubt we waste timber wantonly 
and use it recklessly ; but we are guilty of equal fault in our neglect to 
plant new trees with which to make good the waste and the necessary 
consumption. There are lands in every country — we may safely say in 
every township — in these Eastern States which have already descended 
almost to the condition of desert wastes. They are not yet beyond redemp- 
tion, but we are doing nothing or nearly nothing to redeem them, and it 
will soon be too late. 

To avert so dire a disaster as that which threatens us is surely a task 
worthy of the attention, the earnest, even the enthusiastic activity of men 
whose concern for the future welfare of this land of ours is manifested so 
encouragingly in political affairs, and it is to awaken such men to a sense 
of the danger and the duty that we return to this theme time after time. 
If such men can be induced to give to the duty a tenth part of the atten- 
tion which they devote to their political duties the dangers will be averted. 



129 



, [From the Des Moines Register.]. 
IOWA BLACK WALNUT CARRIED TO ENGLAND. 



The lumber dealers of England are making a grand raid on Iowa and 
all the black walnut States, and are fast taking from us all that we have 
left of that timber. The native forests in Ohio and Indiana were rich with 
this now precious wood, and the early settlers of those States, in clearing 
the land for agricultural purposes, destroyed numberless thousands 
of acres of the timber. It is estimated that if the States of Ohio and Indiana 
stood covered now with their native forests they would, be worth more in 
actual value than as they stand to-day. 

The traveler along the railroads of Iowa sees now, at nearly every im- 
portant station, a little out-door steam saw mill working away like mad, 
ripping up black walnut logs into great slabs. All over the West, iu the 
black walnut belt, these little saw mills are cutting up into a certain form 
of broad and thick slabs all the black walnut that can be got hold of. A 
large and wealthy corporation of Indianapolis men, cooperating with a 
company of English capitalists, are the proprietors of these mills. They 
have their buyers out at every little station and in the'rural districts, and 
wherever the smallest patch of black walnut can be found. Two of 
these little mills are now tearing away in the city of Des Moines, and 
another at Mitchell ville. All that we have left of this valuable timber in 
Polk County and Central Iowa is fast passing under their saws, coming- 
out broad slabs, and going thence directly on the cars on their way to 
England, where, in their greater wisdom, the people have come to know 
that black walnut wood is already as valuable, because of its durability, 
beauty and scarcity, as mahogany. 



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